Truths of the Hearts
by genielou
Summary: One of Divatox's nephews has got his eyes set on Tanya and he will do anything to get her. How far will he go to get what he wants? What can Adam do about it? What happened to Tommy? Rated T for mature language. Please review...
1. A New Face In Town

Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers! DUH! Haim Saban owns them. This has been written without permission and for pure amusement only. There is no profit being made so don't sue me. PLEASE! But the other unfamiliar characters that pop up in the story are mine.

Author's Note: I am a big Adam/Tanya fan. Yup! You guessed it! This is an Adam/Tanya fic. And this is sort of an alternaverse as well. I've always felt that they deserved more of a spotlight than they were actually given. And on the process of feeling so, I've imagined little bits of stories about them. I'm a bit rusty on who is who and what is what but I'm gonna try my best. If I get any facts wrong, sorry about that. And if the characters seem a bit different, sorry about that too. Remember that this is an alternaverse so I'll most likely change bits and pieces anyway for the benefit of the story. This is my first attempt at a PR fic. If you want to review, you are welcome to do so.

Second Author's Note: As for the timeline, it's a weird one. It's almost Christmas but it's also right after the Turbo Movie.

**Truths of the Heart part 1  
A New Face in Town  
by genielou **

Tanya Sloan sat on the counter of the Juice Bar with a smoothie in front of her. She kept playing with her straw and looked as if she is deep in thought. The Rangers had won their battle against Divatox weeks ago and there had been no attacks since then, but she still couldn't help but feel uneasy about it. *_None of the others gave up after the first try_*, she thought to herself. The others probably felt the same way but chose not to bring up the subject. It had been a long and hard battle in Muiranthias, and they all felt that they had deserved a break. These past few weeks had been absolute heaven for all of them. They had done nothing but have fun. Swimming, playing basketball, sparring, shopping... Now and then, Rocky comes over and helps her forget her worries with his funny jokes and his inhuman eating.

"Tanya! Hey!"

Tanya turned around to see her best friend and fellow Ranger, Katherine Hillard, walking towards her, wearing her usual pink, V-neck shirt and her blue, jean shorts. She sat next to her with a smile on her face.

"Hi Kat," she said, making an effort to look as joyous as she usually were.

"What are you doing here? Adam is at the mall with Rocky." Her usual drink arrived without her ordering it, a very familiar gesture given by the manager and their long-time friend, Ernie. "I would think that _you_, of all people, were with them."

"Why would you think that?" Tanya asked frowning.

Kat just smiled at her friend's naivete. "Because it's _Adam_. Where he is is where you should be at."

Tanya finally took a sip of her smoothie, not having such a hard time since it had already melted. "I've given up on that already."

"Huh?" Kat puts her drink aside and adjusts her seat so that she is facing Tanya. "That can't be true. I've seen you two together so many times doing the sweetest things. And you know he likes you a lot. It's pretty obvious that you feel the same way."

"_Does_ he like me? Sure we hang out a lot, and now and then he does something sweet like hold my hand or put his arms around me. But besides that, there's nothing." Tanya adjusts her seat to face Kat. "Oh Kat, why do I even bother? Ever since I met him it's been like this. It's either I'm chasing him or he's chasing me. It feels like it's never gonna change. There are so many people that think we're already an item, but did you know that he's never even kissed me? Not once!"

"Didn't he kiss you on the cheek last Christmas?"

"So?"

"What do you mean 'So'? You were blushing and everything. We all saw it."

Tanya blushes. "But it was under a mistletoe. Who kisses on the cheek under a mistletoe?"

Kat smiles, remembering just that. She, Tommy, and Rocky had formed a plan to make Tanya and Adam end up under a mistletoe during their last Christmas party at the Youth Center. It worked the way it was supposed to since both Tanya and Adam thought that it happened by pure coincidence, until Adam planted a kiss on Tanya's left cheek. They were hoping that, by placing them under an awkward situation, Adam would finally get up the courage to open up his shell to her. But they were wrong, although the kiss on the cheek was already satisfying for the both of them at the time.

"Oh come on, Tanya," Kat urged on. "He's never been under a mistletoe with a girl before. He was probably planning on kissing you on the lips but got scared. Besides, that is not a good enough reason to just ignore what you feel. If you think it's about time that you two get somewhere, then make a move."

"I guess," Tanya sighed.

Just then, a young man wearing a white tank top and blue jeans carrying a black duffel bag entered the Juice Bar and sat on a table nearby, ordering a drink as a waiter passed by. On his way there, Tanya and Kat cock their heads, their gazes following him as he sits down. Both couldn't help but notice the young man's well-built features as they stare at his muscle-shaped back.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Tanya asked without taking her eyes off of the man.

"Yeah..." Kat said, her voice trailing off.

Tanya finally snaps out of her trance and takes a look at Kat. Grinning to herself, she playfully slaps her shoulder. "Stop that," she told her. "You're already taken."

Kat smiles at her friend and slaps her shoulder as well. "You were staring too!" She teased in a low enough voice as to ensure that the young man could not hear her.

"That doesn't matter 'cause I'm not taken."

"But you're already reserved!"

"Oh whatever!"

Both giggled uncontrollably at Kat's remark. The young man turns around and sees them both, but fixed his eyes on only one of them. Staring at the one wearing a yellow, spaghetti-strap shirt and a pair of blue, wide-legged jeans with a huge black belt, he studies her features. First looking at her thick, curly, black hair, then taking in consideration her dark skin color, and, lastly, studying her face. '_Pretty_...' he thought. Not wanting to be caught staring, he turns back around and resumes his drinking.

"But seriously, Tanya," said Kat, stopping the giggles. "Adam is very shy and he's not very experienced with girls. There was even this one time in class when this girl was coming on to him, and he didn't even know it. I mean, come on, the girl was massaging him and everything, and he still didn't get it. She was even blowing onto his ear."

Tanya laughed at the thought of a girl being ignored when so many obvious signs were being sent.

"But the important thing is that I'm very sure that Adam likes you," Kat continued. "Only a moron wouldn't know that. I've seen the way he looks at you and I've never _ever_ seen him look at anyone else like that. Just be patient with him. I don't want you to throw this away just because he's a bit slow at this."

Tanya couldn't help but smile at her friend's factly speech. "Alright, alright," she said, holding up her hands at a surrender gesture. "You've convinced me. But if anyone asks me out on a date, I won't say no. I've been bored for a while and I need a new face in my life."

"O.K. then, but as long as nothing happens on your dates."

"O.K.," Tanya answered, rolling her eyes.

Kat swings a finger at a matter-of-factly gesture. "_Promise me_ that you won't kiss anyone else other than Adam."

"O.K.! I promise," Tanya puts a hand on her heart and held up the other. "These lips of mine shall never touch anyone else's but of those that belong to the Green Asian with a well-built body, knee-shaking eyes, soft curly hair, and the most gorgeous smile."

"Don't forget his cute face expressions," Kat added.

"Hey! He's mine!"

Both girls laughed. At that time, two young men entered the bar. A young Mexican with a wide grin on his face wearing a black leather jacket over a white shirt and black slacks, and a young Asian with thick, black, curly hair at face-length wearing an over-sized, green, flannel shirt over his white tank top and blue jeans.

"Hey you guys!" Kat greeted as Tanya turned around to say the same thing.

"Hey!" Rocky DeSantos greeted as he stood by Kat, and Adam Park stood by Tanya. Both Rocky and Kat smiled at this. "We were just at the mall. You wouldn't believe what happened--"

"I don't think they need to know," interrupted Adam as he glanced down at Tanya with a slight sign of worry on his face.

"Oh come on, I wanna know," Kat playfully whined.

"Give it up, bro. I'm gonna tell them anyway," Rocky smirked at his best friend. Adam only made a face at him in defeat. "Well, anyway, we were sitting down drinking soda when these two girls came up to us. They were all like 'Can we sit with you?' and I was all like 'Sure.'"

His friends laughed as he imitated a girly voice on the dialogue of his story and the exaggerated accent that he portrayed, not to mention his use of face expressions for a better re-enactment.

"Go on, go on," Tanya urged.

"O.K., so anyway, the girls sit with us, right? It was cool and all 'cause they were totally into us. The other girl, the blonde one, even asked if she could sit on Adam's lap!"

"Wow!" Kat exclaimed. "Talk about being forward."

"And desperate," Tanya added, successfully hiding her jealousy. She didn't much like the idea of some other girl being with Adam.

"Yeah, I know," Rocky agreed. "Before they left, they wrote their phone numbers down on our hands. See?" Rocky asked with a big grin on his face, holding out his hand for them to see a girl's name and seven digits written on the back of his hand with black ink.

Both girls leaned over, smiling and fussing over Rocky finally having a girlfriend.

"Come on, buddy," Rocky said, nudging Adam's elbow when the girls finally stopped their staring. "Show 'em yours."

Tanya's face expression suddenly changed. She looked up at Adam at the very same time that he looks down at her, seeing a bit of eagerness in her eyes. Kat elbowed Rocky on the stomach harder than she intended to as they watched the two stare at each other. After recovering from the blow, Kat glared at him and hissed in a whisper, "You couldn't just let it be, could you?" Rocky simply gave her an apologetic look, realizing his mistake.

"Oh, yeah," Adam finally said after a moment of just staring at Tanya, both not hearing Kat's hissing. "I rubbed mine off already."

"What?" Rocky exclaimed, but withdrew his wide eyes when he noticed Kat raising her elbow. "When?"

"Right after she left."

"Dude! She was so hot! Why didn't you just give it to me?"

"Rocky!" Kat exclaimed as everyone started laughing.

Tanya looked at her watch. "You guys, I have to go," she said. "I have to take care of some kids."

"Kids?" Adam asked as she got up.

"Yeah, at Little Angel's Haven. I've had a lot of free time to spare lately so I decided to keep on volunteering after you guys won the money for it. It's a lot of fun. You guys should try it," Tanya explained as she put on the small blue jacket that had been sitting on the counter next to her.

"Aren't you a volunteer too, Kat?" Rocky asked.

"Yeah, but I don't do it as much as Tanya. I'm only there for the activities and stuff." Kat got up and gave her friend a quick hug. "Have fun. And say hi to Justin for us."

"I will," Tanya told her.

"I guess I'll see you around," Adam said, disappointed that he had not seen her all day and now she had to leave. They gave each other a hug and held on for a while. He liked the feel of having her in his arms. It felt warm and comfortable. Tanya felt the same way, not wanting to let go as to the fact that this rarely happens. As they did so, Adam could feel Rocky grinning at him from behind. He made a little note in his head to talk to Rocky about that. Making googley eyes at him whenever he hugs a girl is getting tired after so many years.

"I'll see you later, Adam," Tanya whispered into his ear, starting to let go.

"I'll see you later," Adam whispered back as he did the same when he felt Tanya's arms loosen their grip from around his neck.

Adam walked Tanya out of the Youth Center and came back to his little group of friends at the counter. Once he entered, Rocky started once again with his melo-drama.

"Oh, Adam," he said with his impression of a girl once again, standing up and holding out his arms to Adam. "Hold me, my darling."

Kat leaned over the counter trying hard to keep herself from doubling over. Even Adam couldn't resist laughing.

"Dude, that was sweet," Rocky commented. "Hey! Maybe next time, you'll even peck her on the cheek."

"Shut up, Rocky," Adam said half-heartedly, a bit hurt by Rocky's comment.

Kat just smiled. She didn't want to tell anyone else that she and Tanya had been talking about the some exact thing. That would ruin the whole idea of secrecy between friends. "So, Adam," she started. "What are you getting her for Christmas?"

"I... I don't know yet," Adam blushed.

"I say kiss her," said Rocky. "That would be a great Christmas present! We can set it up so that it'll look like it happened by pure coincidence! You just stand by a mistletoe, and Kat can lead her to you. And then BAM! You'll be smooching by midnight." Rocky explained with enthusiasm.

Both Adam and Kat bursted in laughter.

"Oh come on!" Rocky whined. "It'll totally work! I saw it once on a movie. It's a sure thing!"

"Aw, man," said Adam as the laughter slowly died down. "You watch too much T.V."

"You know, Adam," Kat started. "You'd better make a move. Tanya's not gonna be waiting for you for the rest of her life. Someone else might just sweep her off her feet while you're not looking."

"Someone like me!" said Rocky.

Adam glared at him.

"Oh come on," Rocky teased. "Tanya's a good catch. She's athletic, beautiful, smart, talented, and-- Ooh! --She's got a killer bod!" Rocky put his thumb and forefinger to his chin, and frowns, as if pondering deeply. "Now that I think about it, she fits my description of a perfect girlfriend. You'd better watch it, pal. If you don't do something soon, I might just move in for the take."

"You do that and I'll kill you."

"You kill me and I'll come back as your son!"

The two started laughing once more. All the talk of some other guy taking Tanya reminded Kat of the young man that they were eyeing before. She turns her seat around to look at his table but sees no one.

* * *

Tanya walked up to the main desk and asked for her station schedule after the usual greetings. She frowned at the piece of paper when she saw another name next to hers.

"Excuse me, Ms. Pint," she said to the plump-looking woman sitting in front of a computer on the desk. "This must be a mistake. I was supposed to work alone."

She showed her the piece of paper with her schedule on it. Ms. Pint simply smiled and answered, "Well, we have a new volunteer with us and we need him to have a partner until he is comfortable enough working alone."

"Oh," was all Tanya could say.

"Oh, don't be like that, dear. He looks like the kind you could go for," Ms. Pint told her with a wink.

Tanya giggled and turned to walk on to the main hall. "Thanks for the info, Ms. Pint."

She entered the hall expecting to have to work alone for few minutes in knowledge that new volunteers are not famous for coming early on their first week. But it was to her surprise to see a young man sitting on a small chair playing tea party with a group of little girls. His features were nothing less of impressive. He had short, black hair, almond- shaped, black eyes, and a smiled that could compete with those of a toothpaste model's. His well-built body was clearly shown off in his white tank top and blue jeans. Tanya recognized him as the man from the Juice Bar and wondered how he got there. *_I guess he left before I did and I didn't notice it.* _The young man got up from his seat after noticing that there is another adult in the room and walked towards Tanya.

"Hi," he greeted. "Are you Tanya Sloan?"

"Uh, yes," she answered. "That's me. You must be the new guy."

"Yup, that's me. But I prefer being called Chris."

Tanya smiled at his remark. "How long have you been in here?"

"Not long," he said. "Probably just a couple of minutes before you came. So, Ms. Sloan--"

"Tanya."

"Right, Tanya. So, Tanya, teach me the basics. What must I learn to be capable of taking care of these little tikes?" he asked in a playful sarcastic tone.

"Well," Tanya said, crossing her arms and looking Chris over. "The first thing that you should know is that you shouldn't wear a tank top in here. Some of our girls are already in line for going through the path of puberty. The last thing we need right now is having one of our girls fall for a volunteer."

Chris turned as he heard a few giggles coming from a corner of a table, seeing a group of 10-year-old girls looking over to his direction and whispering. "I'm flattered," he smiled. "Does it apply to girl volunteers as well?" He asked, eyeing the yellow tanktop that she wore underneath her jacket.

"It applies to everyone," answered Tanya. "Come on, I'll start you off with diaper duties."

* * *

The small alarm clock on Adam's bedside table read 8:00 PM. Three hours ago, he had walked home with Rocky, leaving Kat at the Youth Center to wait for her boyfriend, Tommy Oliver. Now, Adam lay sprawled on his bed, staring at the ceiling of his bedroom, thinking back to his conversation with Rocky and Kat that day, and had not been able to think of anything else since he came home, especially his conversation with Rocky on the walk home...

_"Rocky?" Adam asked, finally breaking the silence as they walked. _

_"I didn't do it." _

_"Knock it off, man," Adam told him with a slight sternness in his voice. "It's about Tanya." _

_Rocky's grin faded at the mention of Tanya's name. "Still not sure what to do for Christmas?" _

_"No," Adam replied. "I want it to be special, but I don't know what I should give her." _

_"Well, maybe it's not a matter of what you should give," his best friend told him. "Maybe it's a matter of what you should do." _

_Adam stopped walking and turned to face Rocky, frowning. _

_"Well," he continued. "I was serious when I suggested the whole kissing thing. I think you should go for it." _

_"But," Adam protested, walking once again. "I don't know if she even wants to kiss me." _

_Rocky rolled his eyes. "Adam, your shell has made you naive! Only an idiot wouldn't see what I've been seeing." _

_Adam frowned once again but smiled lopsidedly. "Dude, just break it down for me, will ya?" _

_"Here's the thing. Remember when she first came here?" _

_"Yeah." _

_"Remember when we all grew to our normal ages and she skipped about six or seven years of her life?" _

_"Yeah." _

_"Remember when she was leaning over the controls, then she turned around to face us." _

_"How could I forget? I never knew she would have grown up to be so beautiful." _

_Rocky playfully punched Adam on the shoulder as he started staring at the sky. "Exactly! She was looking at you the same way you were looking at her." _

_Adam looked down, watching his footsteps. "No, she wasn't," he protested. "If she was, then we would've ended up together. But, instead, she started going out with Shawn. God, I hate him." _

_"Yeah, I know what you mean," Rocky agreed. "He was such a jerk to her. But, besides, it was all your fault why it didn't happen in the first place. You didn't do anything." _

_"What was I gonna do? Just go up to her and ask her out? I couldn't do that," Adam retorted. "She had just come all the way from Africa, not knowing that her life was gonna turn upside down, and she skipped six years! I don't know about you but that would have been enough to make me freak out." _

_"But she got over it, didn't she? She started living her life like a normal teenager... well, not really normal, but sorta normal. Even after she started adapting to our lifestyle you still didn't do anything." _

_"O.K., wait," Adam said, holding up a hand. "We're slipping out of the subject. Why would she want to kiss me again?" _

_"Because she likes you, you moron!" Rocky told him. "By the way that she looks at you, I would think she's in love with you." _

_"Don't get my hopes up." _

_"Huh?" Rocky frowned, taking a few seconds to acquire the newly found information that he had just received. "Wait, you don't mean... you... I mean she... you... You're in love with her, aren't you?" _

_Adam turned away to hide his blush from his wide-eyed friend. "Yeah, I guess you could put it that way." _

_"Oh my God!" Rocky said in hysterics. "My best friend is in love! With a girl!" _

_"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Adam said, facing his friend with yet a red face. _

_"Just kidding. Aw, man! This is big. I thought you just liked her, but _love_? I think I'm gonna cry." _

_"Knock it off. We're getting off the subject again." _

_"Ok, ok," Rocky said, holding both hands up to a surrender. "Anyway, I think she feels the same way. She's always around you and whatnot, and she's always doing stuff for ya. Remember the martial arts competition by the beach? She was there throughout the whole training. Everywhere you went, she was right there at your side. She helped you carry your stuff, she made sure you were focused, she made sandwiches in case you got hungry, and I think she was watching out for Shawn or something. That guy is pretty sleazy. He might have stolen some of your moves." _

_"Yeah," Adam smiled, remembering just that. "Shawn can be a real creep. Once, when I was on a cliff by the beach and Tanya was on the sand watching me do my exercises, Shawn came over with Veronica. Aw man, at that point I was ready to punch him straight on the gut." _

_"Right. Other than that, she was at the ring side throughout the whole competition. She was cheering and everything. And she was the loudest when you were declared the champion. She was the first one to run to you and give you a hug too. Aw, man, you should've seen yourself. Your face was red and everything. I never thought that Asians could get that red." _

_Adam blushed even more. _

_"And remember when you stayed really late at the library to study on that one Halloween night? Wasn't she there with you 'til the latest hour?" _

_"Yeah, that was kinda nice, just sitting there with her." _

_"Uh, yeah, right," Rocky said. "And she's taken a lot of hits for you." _

_"But that goes for all of you guys." _

_"OK, you're right on that one. BUT, I've already given you a lot of reasons why I think she likes you. If you still don't believe me, you're at a lost then..."_

He wanted so much to make this year's Christmas extra special for Tanya, but he wasn't quite sure how he should do it. Kissing her would be a very good idea and Adam felt very tempted to do it, but it's not as easy as it sounded. Girls had never been his specialty. He lacks experience due to his shyness and had never been able to be in a real relationship with a girl. A kiss just seemed like a large step to take for him. He might not be ready for it.

Rolling over to his side, he saw that his clock now read 8:05 PM. Looking over to a group of framed pictures behind it, he examined all three of them. One was of him, Billy, Rocky, Aisha, Kimberly, Tommy, and Jason. It was taken long ago when they still possessed the Power Coins. He and the other rangers had been at the park that day having a picnic in celebration of having passed their sophomore year of high school, despite the trouble that they had been through on the way. The one on the middle was of him and his best friends, Rocky DeSantos and Aisha Campbell, taken in front of his new house when they first moved to Angel Grove. *Gosh, I miss Aisha*, he thought to himself. *I bet she could give me some advice about this.* And the third picture was of him and the Turbo Rangers with Alpha, taken from inside the Power Chamber.

Beside the three frames, a fourth stood isolated by the clock, right in front of the others. It was of him and Tanya. Their faces looked slightly younger than they were now, Adam still had short hair and Tanya's were straight instead of curled. He was wearing a white gi, and was holding up the trophy. He had an arm around Tanya's waist, who had both of hers wrapped around his, both had big smiles on their faces. Adam stared at it, thinking back to when it had happened. It was back when they still used the powers of the Zeo Crystals. Adam entered a martial arts competition, making it all the way to the finals, and then having to compete against Tanya's ex-boyfriend, Shawn. He had beaten him with flying colors, winning the competition all together. But he hadn't done it because of the trophy; he had done it for Tanya's honor. He hated Shawn for violating Tanya's trust, for hurting her. What made him happy that day was having the satisfaction of finally beating the man that he spent so long getting jealous at because he had what he didn't deserved, and he didn't even appreciate it.

*_That's what you get for hurting her_*, Adam smirked to no one in particular.

Suddenly, the phone rang, snapping Adam out of his feedback. He got up from his bed and walked over to his study desk where his phone sat.

"Adam?" the voice asked when he picked the phone up.

"Yeah, it's me," he answered, quickly recognizing to voice to be Kat's. "What's up?"

"It's Tanya."

Adam immediately picked up on the seriousness of her tone, mixed with worry. He frowned, his ears snapping at the mention of Tanya's name. "What about Tanya?" he asked, hoping not to hear anything bad.

"I... I think something happened to her."

* * *

"ELGAR!" Divatox yelled in frustration. "Where are you?"

"Coming Auntie D!" Elgar responded as he ran to the main deck of the sub, fearing that Divatox might cut off his hand if he does not fulfill her request. He came and stood by the railing to see his beloved aunt standing by the main controls with a young man standing beside her.

"Ah, Elgar," Divatox said, smiling. "I'd like you to meet your cousin from Galaxy 562 of the Eastern Delta Quadrant, Prince of the Galaya clan, Kristol."

Elgar looked his cousin over, slightly envious of what he sees. Kristol looked human from head to toe, a very good-looking human, in fact. He looked well-built, but hid his features well under his silver armor and cloak. "Nice to meet you, Cuz!" Elgar greeted dumbly.

"It is nice to meet you too, Elgar," Kritol greeted back with a smile, taking Elgar aback by his kindness. "So, anyway, Auntie," he continued, turning back to Divatox. "About my suitor--"

"Yeah, yeah," Divatox waved her hand at him. "A human suitor, ya-ta, ya-ta, etceteras and what not. I don't even know why you want to have a human suitor," she continued in her usual sarcastic tone of voice.

Kristol rolled his eyes. "We've been through this before. Human females make better suitors than Xatar females. They look like a mix between a pig and... and... Elgar over there."

"Huh?" Elgar scratched his head.

"Don't hurt your head thinking about it, Elgar," Divatox told him. "Anyway," she continued, facing Kristol. "Where do you wanna start looking?"

"Actually," said Kristol, starting to pace pass a line of pirhanatrons standing guard by the rails. "I've already found someone."

Divatox became ecstatic. "Really?"

"Yes," Kristol answered. "But there is just one tiny problem." He stopped pacing and turned to face his aunt. "She is what you call a-- um-- oh, yes! A Power Ranger."

Oooh! The tension is murder! Anyhoo, what do you think? Please R + R, but take it easy on me. This is my first shot at a PR fic. And remember: Reviews encourage me to type faster.

Next chapter's teaser:

"Are you saying that Divatox might have taken her?"


	2. The Search

Disclaimer: Haim Saban owns Power Rangers, but I think I'll buy it off of him. ^_^

Author's note: O.K.! Here's the second part. I think I started off pretty well with the first one, don't you? Anyhoo, this is an Adam/Tanya fic. Also an alternaverse. Some facts are twisted for the benefit of the story.

Second author's note: If anyone has any idea for the better good of this story, please post, K ^^

**Truths of the Hearts Part 2  
The Search  
by genielou **

"She is a Power Ranger," Kristol said.

Everyone present on the main deck gasped. Silence overtook. Kristol waited for a response but continued when he got none.

"I think she's the yellow one but I'm not quite sure. I was wondering if you could take a look at her and tell me what you think."

Divatox blinked. "You wanna know what _I_ think?" she asked, moving towards Kritol. "I say NO! Absolutely NOT GONNA HAPPEN!" she yelled, her eyes literally in flames.

Kristol held up his hands, "Hear me out, Auntie. Please," Kristol begged, then continued on before Divatox's flames could grow any further. "I knew you would act like this so I thought of a plan that would benefit you greatly."

Divatox's eyes slowly simmered to smokes as she calmed herself down, though her eyelids were still twitching from anger.

"This," he held out a small vial containing red liquid, "is our ticket to success."

"Uh," Edgar started dumbly. "What is it?"

Divatox immediately grabbed the nearest object she could find, which happens to be pail of fishes beside a chair, and threw it at Elgar. The pail's mouth hit his face but not before the slimy dead fishes got a turn. Divatox turned back to Kristol and gestured for him to continue.

"As I was saying," Kristol started, desperate to get his aunt's blood level back to whatever may be normal. "This is called _Lason_, I picked it up during the invasion of KO-35--"

"What does it do?"

"Elgar, shut up!"

"Auntie, it's all right," assured Kristol to Divatox, keeping his patience at a reasonable level though very close to getting fed up by his extended-family's endless bickering. "I was about to say, Elgar, that this was used in assurance of possession. Just a drop gives you 100% authorization."

"Authorization, huh?" Divatox pondered loudly. "You mean... like a leash?"

"Close enough to a leash," he answered. "Resistance is more or less probable-- a minor problem, I assure you-- but, nonetheless, if it ever comes up, it would be entirely futile."

An evil grin spread widely on Divatox's face. "A leash on a Power Ranger..." she said to herself. "I like the sound of that..."

* * *

Tommy Oliver, Katherine Hillard and Adam Park each stood at their posts in the Power Chamber pushing buttons on the consoles. It is now 6:30 in the morning. They had been searching for any sign of Tanya ever since Kat's call from almost two nights ago.

*_Where could she be?*_ Adam asked himself in thought, frowning in frustration. He could still recall that night when he found out that Tanya was missing.

_"She never came home," said Kat through the phone. _

_"Well," Adam started, keeping his calm down. "Maybe she's still at the shelter--" _

_"She's not," Kat interrupted, her worry turning into desperation. "I called, and they told me that her shift ended hours ago. She was supposed to be here before I came." _

_Adam paced his room, panic slowly overtaking his control of calmness, but not enough to keep him from thinking logically. "Look," he said. "Why don't you go over to the Power Chamber, and fill Zordon and Alpha in on what's going on? I'll call Tommy and Justin." _

_"O.K. Call Rocky too, will ya?" _

_"All right, I will," said Adam. "I'll see ya at the Power Chamber." Adam hung up the phone, then picked it back up again, dialing the Olivers' number_.

"Adam?"

Adam turned to the owner of the voice.

"Are you all right, Adam?" asked Kat.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered. "Just a bit tired, I guess."

"You can take a break if you want," Tommy told him, though it sounded more of a command than a suggestion.

Adam shook his head and turned back to the screen. "I'll be fine, really."

Tommy did not urge further. He and Kat knew that stubbornness is one of Adam's qualities and getting him to do something would be easy through repetition of suggesting, but both knew that this wasn't the time to try to crack his cover. They had a bit of an idea of how Adam must be feeling at the time. Tommy was almost lost to King Mondo during their Zeo era, and Kat could remember the trouble that they all went through, especially her. And Tommy could recall the time when Kimberly Hart, the former pink ranger and Tommy's first love, was captured and was slowly drained of her powers, and almost lost her life. Both Tommy and Kimberly almost didn't pull through at those situations, and the other rangers were powerless to do any better. If another situation similar to those happens to come up, it is more than likely that it would be twice as difficult and three times as dangerous. They could only hope beyond all hopes that the same fate had not been destined upon Tanya.

Suddenly, a beam of white light appeared in front of the viewing screen, flashing once and leaving behind a young man holding four paper bags.

"I've got breakfast," Rocky said, obviously not in his usual upgoing mood. "I hope everyone likes breakfast burrittos."

He handed Kat and Tommy each a bag, then made his way over to his best friend. Adam gladly accepted the bag, opening it with sudden delight, and started eating his burritto with one eye on the console screen.

"Have you found anything?" Tommy asked as Rocky opened his own bag.

"Nothing," he answered. "I checked the radio station twice already, I got a few weird looks from those people. I guess they're not used to having visitors at midnight." Rocky took a bite of his burritto. "She wasn't there. How about you guys? Anything?"

Rocky's questions were acknowledged by Tommy's head shake. "It's not like she disappeared off of the face of the earth," commented Tommy.

"Or at least maybe hidden," suggested Kat.

Zordon explained further after seeing Rocky's confused face. "There are alien resources that our equipments are very familiar with. Unfortunately, _new_ resources that happens to come upon our way are harder to deal with because our computers have not been updated since we came to this planet. Divatox's ship count as one since her ship is surrounded by a shield that penetrates our scanners."

Rocky took a last bite at his burrito and threw the rest back into the bag. "Are you saying that Divatox might have taken her?"

"Right now, that is the only logical assumption that we could make," answered Zordon.

It didn't make sense and it was a great mystery as to why Divatox would take only the yellow ranger and not the rest or why she wouldn't take the red ranger instead, but no one questioned Zordon's theory. They were all too tired and frustrated to care for facts. They only wanted Tanya back, most especially Adam.

"... psst... hey guys!"

All heads turn to the viewing globe and saw Justin's face dimly shown.

"Found anything yet?" he whispered.

"Justin?" Kat asked. "Where are you and why are you whispering?"

"We can barely see you," added Rocky.

Suddenly, a murmur was heard through the globe and Justin's face paled as his eyes nervously roamed around. After the murmur stopped, Justin took a few seconds before answering.

"I'm under my blanket," he answered. "We're not allowed to get up until seven in the morning."

"Why are you whispering?" asked Tommy.

Justin adjusted the blanket over his head. "If I get caught, I'll get into trouble. Last time that happened, I got stuck with latherin duties."

Rocky stifled a laugh and the rest smirked, all finding it humorous that their young friend had to clean toilet bowls, and probably a bit flabbergasted that the boy knew what 'latherin' meant.

"So where's Tanya?" he asked.

No one answered and Justin didn't need one. He knew just by seeing the looks on their faces that the yellow ranger is still missing.

The sound of creaking is heard and seven loud chimes were heard.

"That was the first call for morning duties," Justin explained. "Just call if anything comes up." The screen went blank.

Adam went back to pushing buttons, determined though with a look of lost hope. Rocky could do nothing but sympathize. It was hard to imagine how Adam could even keep a straight face. Rocky knew that if he were in the same situation, he wouldn't be able to handle it as well; worrying whether or not he will be able to hold his love's hand the next day. So glad he was that he didn't have to deal with it, where as to Adam go through it everytime Tanya goes out to battle.

"You guys," started Rocky, an idea forming in his head. "The search won't go any faster in manual, so why don't we set this thing on automatic and go out or something," he said, gesturing a hand over Adam's console.

* * *

Justin Stewart leaned over a console to dust one of the security screens.

* _I guess this is better than the kitchen,_ * he thought to himself. He hadn't had much to think about but his friend's well-being. The only way he could relieve himself of his worries is to keep himself busy with his assigned duty for the day, which is to clean the security room of the Youth Center. * _Isn't it lunch time yet?_ *

He leaned forward to dust another screen that was atop of one but couldn't quite reach it. He put a hand on the console for better support, accidentally flipping a few switches and pushing a few of the buttons.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed as all six screen went blue, the word **DATE** written at the bottom and a rectangular shape blinking right beside it.

"What is this?" he thought outloud. "Wait, Tanya was working here yesterday. Maybe this thing has something that could help us."

Justin looked around for the keyboard, but found only a buttons with complicated figures and strange symbols. "Where the heck is it?" he asked no one in particular. Patting over and above, he felt a bulge under the center side of the consoles. He pulled out what looked like a hidden shelf. "Bingo!" he said happily to himself as he found the keyboard. He typed the date of the day in which Tanya last worked and waited as the computer searched the files.

Finally, after half a minute of searching and Justin staring at the blue screen, all six screen went blank, then a picture appeared, each different from the next one.

Justin looked from screen to screen but all he saw were old people playing with children. "Let's fast forward, shall we?" He looked over to the left side of the console and found the controls for the screens. He pushed the **FF** button and let the scenes fast forward itself until he found what he was looking for.

"Tanya..." his voice trailed off as his brows creased to a frown.

On the top center screen, Tanya sat on a chair talking to someone. A young man wearing a tank top. It look as though Tanya was explaining something to him.

It went on for five minutes with Tanya just walking around with the young man, being in one screen, then suddenly popping up on the next one at a different angle. "This is getting boring," said Justin.

Although he could barely keep his eyes open, Justin watched Tanya very carefully, turning his head from screen to screen and pushing buttons to keep track of her as she moved around the building.

"Aw man, maybe this wasn't such a good idea," said Justin as he lifted his arm. He propped up his elbow on the console but his elbow landed on another button. Tanya disappeared and the screens switched to another floor of the building. "Oh no!" he exclaimed as he frantically pushed buttons to try to get Tanya back. Finally, the screen went back to the floor that Tanya was working on, only this time it looked a bit serious.

Tanya was running from screen to screen, looking back every now and then. Justin frowned harder as he concentrated and followed Tanya as best he could with his eyes, pushing buttons whenever she ran out of the last screen. Tanya opened a door and ended up in what looked like a library. She locked the door and went to a nearby book shelf. Reaching into her pocket, she took out what looked like her power key. She extended her arm into the books as if reaching for something.

Suddenly, smoke came from where the door stood. Tanya retrieved her arm and ran through the rows of book shelves as the door was kicked open and the same young man ran onto the same direction.

Justin clenched his fists and waited for anything else to happen, but nothing did. He focused his eyes on the same screen for what felt to him like an eternity, hoping that Tanya would come back out of the shelves, but, still, nothing happened.

"Tanya..." he said, his voice trailing off again and his heart beat pumping back to normal from the excitement.

He kept on staring at the same screen until the familiar six-digited sound beeped from his wrist interrupted his gazing.

"Justin here," he said as he held up his communicator and pushed on its sides.

"Ai-yi-yi!" Alpha's voice called. "There is an attack at the Angel Grove Mall! You've got to get there right away!"

Justin hesitated, wanting to look into more of what happened, most especially what went on in the library, but decided that he could put it off until later. "Alright, Alpha," he answered, his voice losing its quiver from the shock. "Where are the others?"

"They're already there."

Justin raised an eyebrow when he realized that Alpha's voice had suddenly turned into a deep male one's. "Rocky?"

"Yeah, it's me," Rocky answered.

"Why are you still there?"

"We were hanging out at the mall when those fish thingies attacked all of the sudden," he explained. "I teleported here when the riot turned lose. The others are already there fighting.

"O.K. I'm on my way."

He reached over to the key board and pressed the **Alt** key along with the **F4** key. All six screens went blank and the lights on the consoles went off.

* * *

People ran from all direction, all of them trying to get out of the mall and away from the pirhanatrons.

"We can't get all of these people out of here in time," the Pink Turbo Ranger yelled, pointing at all of the people that are trying to get out of the door, all at the same time.

"Then let's make another exit," the Red Turbo Ranger yelled back as he kicked a pirhanatron away. He took out his Turbo laser gun and fired at the glass walls and display windows that set the boundaries of the building. Once completely shattered, people used them as exits, running through and climbing over.

The Green Turbo Ranger punched a pirhanatron on the face and elbowed another, but one got through and kneed his midsection. "You guys," he panted as he recovered just in time to avoid a kick to the head. "Where is Justin?"

"I don't know," the Pink Ranger answered as she took hold of a pirhanatron's arms, and threw it over her head. "But he'd better get here soon. There's too many of them."

The Green Ranger leapt over one and landed a kick from behind. "I can't keep this up much longer!"

"Just hang on as long as you can," yelled the Red Ranger over the commotion.

As the last civilian leapt over a display window, the Blue Turbo Ranger came and jumped over. "Guys! Guys!" he yelled as he ran towards the other rangers waving his arms at them. "I found out something about Tanya!"

The Green Ranger immediately turned his head to the Blue Ranger. "Tanya?"

"Yeah!" he leaped over a pirhanatron that made a headdive at him. "I was cleaning this room and--"

"Later! Talk about it later!" The Red Ranger puffed out as he desperately tried to block every punch and kick that was thrown.

The rest of the rangers took command and concentrated heavily on getting rid of the pirhanatrons. At last, after what seemed like such a long time, the last pirhanatron was eliminated. The Red and Green Rangers dropped to their knees, the Pink Rangers plopped down to a nearby bench, and the Blue Ranger bent and leaned his hands on his knees, all exhausted from their fight.

"I don't get it," the Pink Ranger started, breaking the momentary silence. "Why send so many?"

The Blue Ranger stood up straight and breathed a sigh, "It's like they're keeping us busy. But for what?"

The Red Ranger was about to make a comment when his communicator beeped. "What is it, Zordon?"

"Rangers, I have detected Tanya's life force--"

"Where?" the Green Ranger demanded as he took hold of the Red Ranger's risk.

Just then, a loud scream pierced through the once-silent air of the mall. The Green Ranger, quickly recognizing the scream, ran towards its direction with the others in pursuit.

They all ran up the still moving escalator, the Blue Ranger having a harder time since he ran up the one heading downwards, and turned a corner to the Wishing Fountain. There, on top of a snack table right next to the fountain, stood a colored young woman with torn, dusty clothes, and gashes all over her arms and legs. She was fighting off a pair of pirhanatrons, showing a great deal of talent for the Arts.

The woman kicked and punched as best she could but, needless to say, she looked weak, tired, and ready to fall. She punched straightforward but too slow to hit the target, and so the pirhanatron punched her stomach and the other kicked the back of her knee. Her knee bent and her legs were too tired to gain support. She fell backwards heading onto the ground.

But, as she fell, the Green Ranger moved with such quickness that only an inhuman would see, and caught the young woman. He caught her back onto one arm and gathered her legs with the other, and pulled her down quickly to the ground with his body covering her fully. The others took lead and shot the remaining pair with their power lasers.

When all seemed to have calmed, the Green Ranger finally loosened his grip on the battered woman. "Are you all right?" he asked as he stood her up.

The young woman, still not looking at the Ranger, struggled as her knees shook. "Where am I?" she asked wanderingly. Then, realizing that she is in the arms of a man, she slowly lifted her gaze, from the Green Ranger's belt, to his green uniform, and, finally, to his customized green turbo helmet.

The other Rangers gasped upon seeing her face. Her hazelnut eyes stared at his helmet shades as if she could see through it. She stared endlessly. Her face was dusted with dirt, her lips bleeding from the side, a bruise swelled on her left cheek, a small gash bled openly just above her right eyebrow, and her thick, curly hair was a tangled mess. She looked as if she had been through days of imprisonment.

"Tanya," the Green Ranger breathed in a whisper so that only the pair could hear. The young woman smiled a small smile, as if of great relief. Then her eyes rolled up, her arms lost their grips on the Ranger's arms, her legs lost their strength, and she fainted.

The Green Ranger quickly caught her as she fell sideways. The others ran to his side, frantic and worried, calling out her name.

* * *

So what do you think? Is it getting good so far? Well, I've been quite busy these days. I guess they were right when they told me that Junior year is the hardest year to go through in High School. R + R are always welcome. And remember: reviews encourage me to type faster.

Next chapter's teaser:

"I'm home."


	3. A Moment to Pass

Disclaimer: Read the last chapter. You'll get the point.

Author's note: Yay! I'm back! It is so hard to find time to work on this story since second semester started. I HATE chemistry. Anyhoo, here's the third part of the story. I decided to tone it down a bit so this is just a bit of relaxing here and there. It's kinda shorter than the others too but I promise the next chapter will be longer. Hope it meshes with the others. ENJOY!

**Truths of the Hearts Part 3  
A Moment to Pass  
by genielou **

"HA! The plan worked perfectly! They took her in!" Divatox exclaimed as she watched the scene at the mall take place on her screen.

Kristol smiled, "I must say, Auntie, I didn't think it would work."

"I don't get it. Isn't the Power Rangers even the least tiny suspicious?" Elgar asked as he scratched his head.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but-- Elgar's got a point there," Divatox gestured to Elgar.

Kristol smiled widely at his cousin's display of intelligence. "Of course the Power Rangers will be suspicious, but they won't figure it out until it's too late."

Divatox only laughed at the thought.

* * *

The wind blew softly as little specks of dusts passed by the terribly horrific paradise. Giant red petals surrounded an O of fangs, an odor of strawberry and melons could be smelt, a blue circle that hung up onto the yellow sky with gray clouds could be seen, and green grass-like objects bore thorns and holes that chimed a sweet melody with a hint of depressing _twings_ in them sang in every given space there is.

She stood, amazed at the sight, although the melody that repeated itself endlessly gave chills that ran up her skin. * _Where am I?_ * she thought to herself. Realizing the borders of which she wore, she looks down at her attire. A beautiful white gown that hugged her body tightly, so simple and extravagant yet so unique and strange in its own way. A sache of yellow gold wrapped around her waist and ran down longer than her feet could touch. A necklace of the most beautiful fragments and carvings of what looked to seem like a scorpion hung around her neck. And a crown of gold so simple that it did not belong on her at all fitted itself perfectly around her head and displayed its white diamond on her forehead.

Her glance lifted to a man, clothed bizzarely but nonetheless human, placing a bracelet around her left wrist as he held it so gently. "To my love," he said softly. "May we rule forever side by side." Closing his eyes and perking his lips, he leaned closer... closer...

Tanya gasped as she awoke sitting upright on her bed. She breathed in deep breaths rapidly. "Oh God..." she said to herself as she placed a palm on her forehead, suddenly feeling a headache as she tried to make sense of herself. She then opened her eyes, hoping not to be in the paradise that she saw, and found herself in the comfort of her own room. Band-aides and bandages of all sorts and sizes wrapped in many parts of her body, some inside and some outside of her white tank-top and yellow biker shorts. A tiny smile formed on her lips despite the pain and soreness that she felt throughout herself as she realized her recent state. "I'm home," she said, "I'm home."

Noticing the warm feeling wrapped around her right hand, she looked down to see a hand holding hers tightly, and a head of thick curly hair to which it belonged to. She smiled, staring on to him with sudden affection and stayed still, fearing that he would awake and ruin her happiness as she looked on with longing.

She could remember so many times when she had ended up in a moment just as similar. One of which was some time months ago on a Halloween night when she had left the green ranger in the library late at night. She made sure to come back to him early in the morning, so early that the sun barely peaked on the horizon, so as to make sure that he had gotten well all right. Just as she had expected, he had stayed all night and had fallen into a deep slumber on the couch, books and notes scattered on the floor and table alike. He looked so peaceful and comfortable that she did not have the courage to wake him up. So she waited there, on a chair right next to the couch, as the red shine that enlightened the library through its huge windows turned into gold, for her other friends to arrive. At the time, her feelings were still not certain but she was sure that his were. He had made it obvious, but, to all of the other ranger's disappointment, he still stayed hidden behind the curtains. But the pressure of hers and his certainty did not matter at the moment.

All she wanted was to watch him as he was, without having to fear of what to say to him, or to fear of him running away from her. It was to her great relief that Kat was the first to arrive at the library and sat with her to wait for the others. If it were not her, everything would have turned into a whole controversy, and she did not want that. Next came Rocky and Tommy together, who immediately formed wide grins when they saw Adam sound asleep, and then came Billy. It was my impression that none of them wanted to disturb him either since they seem to enjoy the sight of their friend's sleeping, or maybe it was that they thought it funny that the girls get to see his couch-cradled form. It was not until they noticed his tossing and turning that they finally woke him up.

Tanya smiled. Alas, with her curiosity overtaking her and knowing that she could not explain her wounds to herself with just mere glances at her reds and purple, she carefully removed her hand from his grasp, and placed it gently onto his head as she stroked his hair.

His head moved as his eyes slowly opened. Focusing the figure that he saw before him, he jumped at the sight with ecstatic attitude.

"Tanya!" he exclaimed as he gathered her into his arms. "I was worried you would never wake up."

"What do you mean, Adam?" she asked. "How long have I been sleeping?"

He let her go and sat comfortably by her side, answering calmly. "It's been almost a week."

"A week," she repeated to herself. "But... how did I get here?"

He looked at her worriedly. "You mean... you don't remember anything?"

"Well," she answered. "I kinda do and I kinda don't." She placed a hand on her forehead suddenly feeling a head ache coming on. "Oh, I don't know--"

"Sshh, calm down," he told her, leaning over to remove a strand of hair from her eyes and stroked her cheek. "What do you remember?"

She placed her hand atop his and pulled it down to her sheets, his thumb moving in circles on the back of her hand. "This guy. He was new to the shelter so I was briefing him. It was all going just fine but..." Tanya's sight blur as tears formed in her eyes. "The next thing I know, I was in a chamber with water running up to my knees and I could hear laughter from above me. I was really scared and I couldn't find the key to my morpher and I didn't know what to do and--"

Tanya's voice broke as she sobbed. Adam gathered her into his arms once more and held her tightly. "It's ok, you're back now. It's going to be all right." He rocked her back and forth until her sobs turned into sniffles.

"Where are the others?" Tanya asked as she pulled away.

"I'm not sure, but Tommy's in the living room. We've been taking turns keeping an eye on you."

"And Kat?"

"She's at work. But she said that she'd be home as soon as she can."

Tanya sighed. She could automatically tell that her friends had gone to a lot of trouble while she slept, and worrying them didn't help them in any way either. "How about you?" she asked quietly. "How long have you been here?"

Before Adam could answer, his communicator beeped. "Adam here."

"Hey bro, I need you here," Rocky's voice said.

"Now? But I'm here with Tanya, she just woke up."

"Really?" he asked ecstatically. "Could you put her on?"

Adam chuckled, "Sure, man."

Adam moved closer to Tanya and extended his arm towards her. She took hold of his wrist and lifted it up towards her lips.

"Hi Rocky, missed me?" she teased.

"You bet! There was no one around to make me those delicious cookies that only you could make. And of course, how can I go without a day of my usual teasing from my favorite singer?"

Tanya and Adam laughed at his remark.

"I'll go get Tommy," Adam said to his communicator after Tanya let his wrist go.

"Don't bother. We only need you. Tommy can stay and look after Tanya."

Adam frowned in wonderment, "Oh, all right then. I'll be right there."

"OK bro," Rocky said.

"Bye Rocky!" said Tanya.

"Bye! See ya in a while, Tanya!"

Adam stood after the communication ended and headed for the door. "I'll go get Tommy for you, OK?"

"All right," she said cheerfully. Adam smiled warmly at her and opened the door. Outside, he leaned back onto the door and sighed, remembering Tanya's question.

"_How about you? How long have you been here?"_

* _She said it so quietly,_ * he thought to himself.

* * *

Walking off to the living room, Adam found Tommy sitting on the couch watching the news on the television. When Tommy heard him coming, he turned off the T.V. and stood up. "Hey man," he greeted. "What's up?"

"She's awake," he told him. "Woke up a few minutes ago."

Tommy smiled widely, happy of the news. "That's great!"

Adam couldn't help but smile as well. He had had the same thought in his head when he found the yellow ranger sitting up on her bed. "Rocky called me over to the Power Chamber. Something important, I guess."

"All right then," Tommy answered. "I'll stay and take over from here."

"Ok, she's up and going so you wouldn't have a problem."

"I never did and never will, bro," he told him, as if to give a compliment to both Adam and Tanya. "You go on ahead. Kat will be here soon anyway."

Adam nodded and teleported.

Tommy stood there for a while, a bit amused at the Green Ranger's concern. It seemed like he just wouldn't leave until Tommy made him. He smiled at the thought, and shook his head.

When he opened the door to Tanya's room, he found her sitting upright on her bed staring out of the window. She turned her head to see her visitor and smiled affectionately at him, spreading her arms. Tommy walked into her arms and hugged her tightly. "It's good to have you back, Tanya. I missed you so much."

"Yeah," she said, letting go. "I missed me too."

Tommy smiled, happy to see her back to her usual self. He sat down on the bed and held her hand. "So how do you feel?" he asked.

"Not fine but I'll live." Tanya squeezed his hand. It was so likely that the Red Ranger showed affection towards her but only when they were alone. He always comes to her for comfort and advice, and had shown her a side of him that only she and possibly the Pink ranger had seen. He hid his true self from the others. She had assumed that this was due to his wanting to keep his role as the strong leader. She was happy to see a familiar reaction after being so confused. "Tommy, how did I get here?"

"You don't remember anything?"

"Well, I sort of do and sort of don't," she said calmly. "I remember little bits and pieces but there are gaps and blurs along the way."

Tommy sighed as his smile faded from his face but he still looked on softly. "It took us three days to find you. I'm not really sure when you disappeared but Kat told me that you didn't come home one night from your volunteer work at the shelter."

"Yeah, I was with a new trainee. That's where a big gap is. I remember showing him around but then there was nothing."

"What do you remember after that?"

Tanya frowned as she sniffled a reply, her voice lost. Tommy squeezed her hand for comfort.

"Don't worry about it," he told her as she tried hard to speak. "We'll just talk about it later."

Tanya nodded in relief and listened contently to Tommy talk.

"After Kat called Adam, we all gathered at the Power Chamber and tried to look you up on the computer. When we didn't get response, we separated and started searching by foot."

"Please tell me you didn't find me naked at some ditch."

Tommy chuckled. "No, we didn't. That was just the first night. After that, we spent hours after hours in the Power Chamber. We figured the computer could probably track you down faster than we could if we walk. The only problem is that we couldn't find a trace of you anywhere..."

* * *

"I'm not sure I understand completely."

"Here, look at this," Rocky pointed to the screen of the console. "It took Justin hours to actually locate it. It was obviously made to camouflage its appearances in her body."

Adam frowned, trying to take in as much as he could. "And we don't know what it is?"

"No," the normally-bubbly robot replied. "We are not sure but we know it's alien."

"That's not all."

The three jumped as they turned around to see Justin stepping out of one of the doors with a sheet of paper in his hand.

"I just got some more results from the computer. Whatever this thing is, it's surely spreading fast. It's traveling through her veins in an amazing speed."

Justin handed the sheet of paper to Adam and he took it anxiously, looking over the results. "Wait," he said, not taking his eyes off the paper. "This can't be right. According to this, that alien liquid would have completely spread throughout her whole body about half an hour ago."

Justin looked down. "That's just it," he said quietly. "It already has."

Adam looked shocked. He didn't know what that liquid could do but he was sure that it wasn't good.

beep-beep-beepbeep-beep-beep

"Tommy here."

"Could you go to the living room a moment?" Justin's voice said over the communicator.

Tommy frowned, confused. "Uhm, all right, hang on," he leaned over to Tanya and kissed her forehead. "I'll be back in a minute."

After he closed the door to Tanya's room, he went straight to the living room and sat down on the couch. "What's up?" he asked to his communicator.

"Remember that reading we found last night?" Justin asked.

"Yeah, that thing that's inside her. It's pretty harmless, it wasn't even doing anything."

"That's what we thought," Justin said firmly. "It's actually moving and it's moving fast. It's all over her."

* * *

Tanya waited patiently under her blanket. * _It sure is nice to be home._ * she thought to herself, then strained to remember what had happened, wishing she could break through the gaps in her memory.

_~... love me... ~ _

Tanya jumped at the voice. She wasn't sure if she had actually heard it but she could still feel another presence in her room.

_~ ... love me... ~ _

"Who's there?" she called out.

Just then, a group of pirhanatrons appeared in her room, thrashing senselessly about. Tanya quickly jumped off of her bed as the pirhanatrons chased her around the room.

From in the living room, Tommy could hear noises from upstairs.

"Justin, get Adam over here. Now." he said firmly and cut off the connection as he ran towads Tanya's room. As he burst through the door, he saw Tanya kneeling on the floor, clutching on to her right arm, her wounds bloody as practically all of them have opened up. "Red Lightning Turbo Power!"

As soon as Tommy's transformation finished, the pirhanatrons disappeared into thin air. Tommy looked around, then he stood wondering, "Wh-- where'd they go?"

Ignoring the strange outcome of his predicament, Tommy ran to Tanya's side, aiding her good arm. "Are you all right?" he asked her.

Tanya looked up and, upon seeing Tommy's helmet, started breathing harshly. Her eyes narrowed and her lips quivered as she let out a soft growl.

"T-- Tanya?" Tommy started as he nervously loosened his grip on her arm. "Wha-"

"Aaurgh!"

Tanya yanked her arm away. Before Tommy could react, Tanya had leapt onto the nearest desk and jumped back to kick Tommy on the side of his head. Tommy backs away, shaken by the yellow ranger's action.

"What d'you think you're doing?"

"Die Ranger!"

* * *

Yea, you don't need to say it. I know this chapter is not that good but at least it's out there, right? I've had a lot of free time lately so hopefully the next chapter will be around soon.

Next chapter's teaser:

"Physical marks are always hard to overlook. I doubt he'll be around any soon unless those marks disappear."


	4. Another Strange to Add to the List

Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah....

Author's note: Woohoo! Senior Year! I've been waiting for this for so long!... *ahem* anyhoo, here's the 4th chapter as was promised. I'm suffering from writer's block again so if it doesn't measure up with the others, pls forgive me. Besides that, "senioritis" is hitting me hard so I'm really sorry that it's taking me so long to get the chapters out. But, yet again, here's the 4th chapter. Enjoy!

**Truths of the Hearts Part 4  
Another Strange to Add to the List  
by genielou **

"Die Ranger!"

Before Tommy could recover from her kick, Tanya rushed head on again and punched the other side of his head with her bloody arm. Frantically scurrying away as he tries to shake himself to his senses, Tommy yelled at her as he saw her arm bleed even more.

"Stop this, Tanya! You don't know what you're doing!" he reasoned.

"I know exactly what I'm doing," she answered calmly. Looking around, she took the lamp off of her desk top and pulled on the cord, causing the plug to spark. She then walked slowly towards the Red Ranger. "You're so concerned for me," she whispered. "You should be concerned for yourself!"

Raising the lamp over her head, Tanya swung down with all the strength she could muster. But before the lamp hit contact, a strong hand grabbed Tanya's wrist.

"Tanya, don't," Adam said, trying to stay calm. "Tommy," he looks over to his leader as Tommy relaxes his arms to his side, enabling his normal clothing to replace his red armor. "You alright?"

"Yeah," answered Tommy with a hand over his cheek. "Nothing's broken."

Tanya tries to yank her arm away but Adam held his grip. "Let go!" Tanya demanded as she struggled with his grip. "A-- Adam, let go," she begs again, but with more emotion. "You're-- you're hurting me," she says in a hushed voice, tears threatening to leak from her eyes. "Please, Adam," she repeats, "please, let go."

Adam stares at her with confusion, unsure of why her rage suddenly dissolved. Frowning, he slowly loosens his fingers and lets her go. She pulls her arm away and holds her wrist to rub to red mark that Adam's hard grip left.

"Why did you do that?" she asks softly, her nose red and her eyes glistening. "Why did you do that?"

"Wha-- I didn't--" Adam stammered, even more confused.

Realizing the need to resolute the situation they had gotten themselves into, Tommy walks over to Tanya's side and steadying her. "It's ok, Tanya," he assures her. "We just need to figure this out, that's all."

* * *

"I am growing impatient," the young prince complained.

Divatox turns away from the scope of the main console and to her nephew. "Keep your silver pants on, will ya?" she scolds him. "You're such a brat. You take after your father."

"The mention of my inheritance need not be mentioned."

"Shut up already before I stuff a fish down your throat," she threatens. "The plan's in action so stop whining. You'll have your 'power pukey' soon enough."

"Yes," he smiles in recognition. "And you are quite satisfied, Auntie?"

Divatox walks over to another console and traces the tiny levers with her finger. "Just seeing those rangers go frantic is enough for me," she grins. "But, then again, the main event will be really fun. How about if we speed things along? Let's just see how they handle another sudden complication. Besides, I'm getting bored. Might as well play with them for a while."

* * *

Tommy paced the living room floor. "You don't remember anything? Anything at all?"

"No," she whispers. "Those things appeared in my room. Between that and now is a blank." She looks over to the other side of the couch where Adam sat, a hand on his knee and the other covering his mouth with his elbow propped on the arm of the couch.

"That's definitely strange. Divatox must have done something to you," Tommy contemplates out loud, now and then stretching his jaw and rubbing his cheek, still feeling the aftereffect of Tanya's punch. "We don't know if this could happen again. You could end up getting hurt."

Tanya's eyes softened even more upon seeing the green ranger wince at the mention of her getting hurt. She knew very well why.

Tommy rubs the stress out of his eyes. "Well, then, how do you feel? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she answers, although her system tell otherwise as she tries to keep the pain from her wounds to herself. "There's nothing broken. I'm just fine."

"Well," Tommy starts, unsure of certainty as he is very-well familiar with the yellow ranger's stubbornness. "Alright, but we'll check up on those wounds later on just to be sure, okay?

"Okay."

"Alright. Just let me go talk to Zordon, you guys stay here," Tommy commanded as he stalked away.

The room was silent. The only sound that could be heard was Adam's finger tapping on his knee.

Tanya stares at him, trying to catch his eye but he just kept staring into space. Biting her bottom lip, Tanya carefully and silently scooted to Adam's side and puts a hand over his, stopping the tapping of his finger. He stiffens in surprise as he slowly turned his head to face her.

"How did you know to come here?" she asked.

"I didn't," he answers, although his voice was barely audible. "I was just already on my way over because of something Justin found out in the test results. I really had no idea what was going on."

Silence took over once again with Tanya looking longingly at Adam. Adam, in his turn, takes the moment into cherish, forgetting for a moment of the complexity of the certain events. His tired eyes looked to her with concern.

"Don't worry about it," she says, breaking the silence, as she kept her eyes on his. "You didn't have a choice."

Adam's eyes traveled from her eyes to her arm. He took into thought the bruise on her shoulder and the number of deep scratches on her bicep and her forearm. The deep cuts on her arm that had opened up had stopped bleeding but left a gashing scar and badly purpled its outlines. Looking down at the long, red marks on her small wrist, he turns his hand over and entwined his fingers into hers. He frowns as he squeezes her hand.

* * *

"So, you're alright now? I mean, you're not going to jump me or anything any time soon?" Kat asked, slightly leaning away from Tanya. The rangers have tested Tanya repetitively the previous night due to her berserk reactions towards the Red Ranger. After the 8th unsuccessful try, they have finally decided to let the automatic programming of the computers to seek any further information regarding the yellow ranger's situation. While the boys rest amongst themselves, Kat had decided to take Tanya out to a local Cafe and sit her down to a cup of latte.

"Would you stop that already?" exclaimed Tanya, referring to the unnatural distance between her and her best friend.

"Sorry," Kat pouted, finally leaning forward to prop her elbows up on the table. "I can't help it. I'm just trying to be cautious, that's all. This whole thing is really getting to me."

"How do you think I feel?"

"Well, you know what I mean. I'm not trying to offend you. I'm just trying not to be too relaxed in case something pops up."

Tanya took a sip through the straw of her glass. "Yeah, you're right. The last thing I'd want to happen is for you to get hurt. Who knows what I'd do the next time this happens?"

"I'm not too worried about what you might do, Tanya. Whatever may come, I'm sure we can handle it. It's just that things tend to pop up so suddenly these days that I want to be ready in case I have to." Kat sips through her straw.

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Well, we don't really know if it'll actually happen again, right?" asked Kat, stirring her glass with her straw.

"That's the problem. Zordon couldn't find anything wrong with me but, in all truth, he knows something is inside me. He just can't figure it out at the moment."

Kat frowned, "so this will happen again?"

Tanya lowers her gaze while fingering the outline of the mouth of her cup. "Most probably," she said softly.

"Tell me," Kat interrupted the short silence, feeling the need to do so important. "How is Adam doing?"

"I don't know," Tanya answered. "He's been avoiding me."

"I don't blame him," Kat said, reaching to pull Tanya's wrists onto the table to get a better look at the fading red imprints of Adam's fingers. "Geez, he's stronger than I thought he was. That must been one hell of a grip."

"I know, but it's not his fault," Tanya reasoned.

"No, it's not," Kat verified. "It's definitely not his fault but that doesn't mean he can just overlook this. I mean, if for some reason I was brought to all conclusions to hurt Tommy, I could never forgive myself, even if it was a 'had-to' situation. Especially in this case 'cause he left marks on you. Physical marks are always hard to overlook. I doubt he'll be around any soon unless those marks disappears."

A shadow casts over Tanya's eyes, saddened by the revelation of Adam's distance. Kat, upon noticing this, puts her hand over Tanya's.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Kat assures her. "They'll heal in a day or two. When that happens, Adam will come around."

"Yea," Tanya agrees, not convinced. Thinking back to the way Adam would avoid her eyes and the way he would glance at her hand then look away just as quickly, she feels a pain of guilt in her chest. "This is all because of me. If I hadn't let myself be taken away..."

"It's not your fault, Tanya," Kat reassured her. "This is all Divatox's fau--"

"What if it happens again?"

Kat stares at her best friend, taken aback by her question.

"It was just a lucky coincidence than Adam was around. If he hadn't come over, I would have smashed Tommy's head with that lamp." Tanya explained, her voice trembling.

"Tanya--"

"Please, Kat," Tanya interrupts with a more serious tone. "Please, promise me that you'll shoot me if it came to it."

Kat slowly takes her hand back, confused, "Sh-- shoot... you?

Tanya looks away, through the window, and stares out into the open street; noting to herself the change in decorations as most of the stores have fancied their windows showcases with red and green to accommodate with the upcoming holiday. "It's crazy right now, and I'd like to keep thinking that I'll be just fine, but I something tells me that that's not true." She turns her gaze to Kat, noticing the concern on her expression. "Just promise me, Kat. If you do, then I can rest my mind 'cause I know that whatever happens, you guys will be just fine. Please? Promise me?"

Kat slowly lowers her eyes, unsure of what to say. "Tanya... I-- I--"

"EEEeeehhh!"

"What the hell are those?"

"Somebody call the police!"

Kat and Tanya turn to the direction that the occupants of the cafe were pointing to. Outside the window, where happy shoppers roamed the streets just a few minutes before, were about twenty pirhanatrons vandalizing and terrorizing the stores.

"What's with all the shouting out here?" the chunky-structured manager asked as he came out from the door behind the counter, slowing his pace once he looked to where everyone else is looking. Everyone seemed to be acting similarly, staring in awe at the pirhanatrons running around the street.

Kat looked around the cafe then yelled to break their trances, "Somebody block the door. Now!"

Two employees standing by the counter grabbed for the nearest chair and jammed its back-support to the knobs of the door. A teenage girl pushed the small table she was using towards the window and flipped it to cover the glass pane. Three young men in suits each took hold of a corner of the giant couch they were sitting on to flip it over to cover the entire entrance. Others followed suit with Kat and Tanya aiding them, trying to cover the glass panes and other entrances. Even a five year old girl took her booster seat and placed it on the corner of the window, but as she was doing so, a rusty-colored hand broke through the glass and grabbed her arm.

"Mommy, help!" she screamed.

The girl's mother rushed to her daughter, pulling on her daughter's arm as if playing tug-o-war with the pirhanatron. Kat and Tanya, upon seeing this, rushed to their side and hurriedly took down the items that they had once jammed to cover it.

"It hurts!" the girl screamed again as her arm scratched the broken glass and bled.

With only two more furniture jamming the window, Kat took the small chair and Tanya took the easel used to hold up the sign for the menus, but instead of throwing it aside, Tanya held it over her head and swung hard.

"Let her go!"

The glass broke into a thousand shards. The pirhanatron let go from surprise and the girl and her mother flew back onto Kat from the force.

Tanya jumped onto the window and leapt outside, ready to fight.

"Tanya, wait! Wait!" Kat yelled as she struggled to get up after assuring the girl's and her mother's safety.

Tanya, with the easel still in her hands, swung and hit as many pirhanatrons as she could. "Take this!" she yelled. She swung some more, but, as she got tired, her swings got slower and weaker, and barely made damage.

"Tanya!" Tanya turned to see Kat as she jumped down from the window. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she told her.

Kat smiled for a moment but was then jumped by a pirhanatron. Kat and the pirhanatron was thrown back into the cafe and onto its occupants way.

"Kat!" Tanya yelled as she ran back to the window. Just as she was about to climb back in, a hoard of people ran into her, all trying to get out through the window as the same time to get away. Tanya had to scamper away on all fours to keep from getting run on. When they have all cleared out, she jumped through the window to find Kat pinned to the ground with the pirhanatron on top of her. Tanya ran head on and tackled the pirhanatron off of her. With a punch to its head, it dissolved into liquid and disappeared.

Tanya stood and got on a fighting stance, ready for another pirhanatron, but, to her surprise, the pirhanatrons were only attacking Kat. Kat, seemingly keeping to her own two feet, looked at Tanya for a second with confusion in her eyes, obviously aware of the strange situation.

"Hey! Tuna Heads!" Tanya yelled. All actions suddenly seized and attention was all on her. "Am I invisible or something? I'm here too, you know."

The pirhanatrons looked at each other for a second, speaking in their gurggley language, then shrugged their shoulders and resumed their attack on Kat. Kat ducked as a fist attempted to meet with her head and jumped when a chair was thrown at her feet.

"What's going on?" Kat yelled as she turned just in time to grab the chair heading to hit her back and kicked its holder in the middle.

"I-- I don't know," Tanya yelled back, just as confused. Tired of just standing there, she ran to the tangle of pirhanatrons and started pulling them away from Kat, each dissolving as Tanya swung and kicked as hard as she could.

A pirhanatron found an opening and kicked Kat's mid-section. Kat bent down in pain and was forced to the ground with a blow to her back. Before the pirhanatron could get another blow in, Kat turned on her back and kicked it with both feet. "I have to get out of here," she said to herself, then jumped up through the window and ran away, the rest of the pirhanatrons right behind.

"Hey wait a minute!" yelled Tanya. "Wait!"

Tanya ran as fast as she could, not bothering to hit any more pirhanatrons but trying to outrun them instead. Upon reaching the corner of the cluttered street, Tanya ran to the side of the crowd of pirhanatrons, leaped over the tablestand of one of the stores and jumped as far as she could. She landed right beside Kat and skidded to a stop, facing the pirhanatrons with her arms spread up. "STOP!" she yelled. The pirhanatrons stopped and so did Kat as she realized the absence of noise behind her.

The pirhanatrons stood still, not even a flinch from any of them. Kat, after awakening from her amazement, cautiously and slowly made her way behind Tanya who still had her arms up.

"What are they doing?" Kat asked.

"Uhm... I'd like to know that myself."

Tanya, her arms getting tired, relaxed and slowly lowered her arms. Once her arms reached her sides, the pirhanatrons made a loud gurggley sound, like a battle cry, and ran head on. Kat tensed as she stepped back in surprise, and Tanya spread her arms up again on impulse. Upon doing so, the pirhanatrons stopped in an instant, some falling over because of the sudden skid of the others.

"O---kaaayy, things just got weirder," Tanya commented.

"Tell me about it," agreed Kat. Then, a sudden thought hit her. "Hey, why don't you try something else?"

"What do you mean?" asked Tanya, confused.

"Tell them to do something."

Tanya thought for a while, unsure of what Kat may be trying to do. "Um, ok. Dance!" she yelled. Upon the command, the pirhanatrons made ridiculous gestures, jerks, and movements.

Kat frowned, a slight smile escaping the corner of her lips. "Are they-- are they dancing?"

"If that's a dance then alien hip hop must really suck," commented Tanya.

While the pirhanatrons dance, three shades of light flashed behind Tanya and Kat, and replaced two grown men and a young boy.

"Are you girls all right?" asked Tommy, all three of them rushing to their sides then stopping to gape at the dancing pirhanatrons.

"What are they doing?" Justin asked, confused.

"Well," Kat started. "Would you believe they're dancing?"

"Dancing?" Adam repeated. "I'm afraid to ask why."

"What do we do now?" Tanya asked, noticing the sudden tense in Adam upon the sound of her voice. "They're not gonna dance forever."

Kat thought for a second. "Try getting rid of them."

"What's going on?" Justin asked, although his question was ignored.

"All right," Tanya hesitated. "Leave! Now!"

Upon command, the pirhanatrons leaped into the air and vanished, leaving four teenagers and one preteen to gape in disbelief.

"That was strange," Kat whispered. "Very strange..."

"I still don't know what's going on!" Justin shouted, his frustration clearly visible.

"Oh, sorry, " Kat said, turning to Justin. "They were taking orders from Tanya."

"Taking orders?" asked Tommy.

"Yes, taking orders," Kat confirmed. "Tanya yelled for them to stop when they were chasing me and they stopped. She told them to dance and they danced. And, just now, she told them to leave and they left."

"That _is_ strange," agreed Adam.

"There's more," Tanya added. "They were only attacking Kat. They were completely ignoring me. It's like I wasn't even there."

Tommy rubbed his temple, a serious look on his face. "The only thing we can do for now is ask Zordon about this but I doubt he can provide answers."

"We wait for further developments. Is that it?" Justin finished for him.

"Yes," Tommy sighed.

"How about you, Tanya?" Justin asked. "Will you be all right?"

Tanya just looked at him for a second, confused, then followed Justin's gaze. Looking down on herself, she could see that the deep cut on her arm, which has gotten longer and deeper since her previous antic, has opened again.

"Man, this is getting to be so annoying," she murmured.

"Help! Someone, help me!"

All five of them turn to see Elgar holding a man by the neck with the tip of his card-blade pointed at the Rangers.

Tanya squinted her eyes to see who Elgar was holding hostage. "Chris?"

"Please," Chris begged. "Help me, please..."

"What do you want, Elgar?" Tommy demanded.

"Well, nothing really," Elgar smirked. "I just felt like a kill for today. He's not that important, is he? It wouldn't matter if he goes on missing?"

"Not if I can help it!" Kat screamed as she started running at full speed towards Elgar. Elgar simply threw Chris high into the air, landing on Kat with a loud thud.

"Bite me, peepsqueaks!" Elgar taunted, then disappeared.

The other rangers ran to help Kat and Chris to their feet.

"Are you alright?" Tanya asked Chris.

"Yes, I'm fine," he answered. "What was that thing?"

"You don't need to know," Adam told him, a slight hint of firmness in his voice. Tanya eyed him with confusion and Kat turned to him in surprise but knowing the reason to his tone of voice, she ignored it and decided to bring up the matter later on.

"Look, why don't I just take you home?" Tanya offered. "It would be safer that way."

Adam's shoulders tensed upon hearing the offer. Tommy, knowing where this is leading to, immediately takes action.

"You know, it would be a lot safer if I take you home instead," Tommy informed. "Come on, let's go," he ordered, taking Chris from Tanya and leading him down the street. Tanya looked after them, confused. Adam kept his stern expression, and Kat merely smirked while Justin had to cover his mouth from giggling.

* * *

Tanya sat in the living room of the Park's house, or, more specifically, Adam's house, upon the request of its owner. Adam has inherited the house from his parents and has lived in it ever since graduation. It had been a graduation present for him when his family decided to go up the hills of Angel Grove, near the border of Stone Canyon, where another Park estate stands; an old temple built for the comfort of his grandparents. Even now, after his parents had gone, the house is still clean and well-decorated, with the exceptions of the variety of jade artifacts and others of the sort, presumably of the Korean heritage.

Tanya's eyes wandered from one corner of the room to the other, looking at each artifact closely and taking into consideration the silliness that can be punned out of its beauty due to the fact that most of them are green. *_Yellow-green to be exact,*_ she thought to herself.

At the far side of the room, next to the door that leads to the hallway, are shelves stacked on the wall, decorated with trophies and ribbons. One particular one caught Tanya's eye. She stood from her seat, walking towards it. Outlining its features with her fingers, she remembers all too well what the trophy had meant to Adam. He had worked hard to win that competition and won fairly at that, unlike a certain someone who had chosen a rather dishonest way of getting to the finals. Aside from the training and having to deal with Mondo, the week had been hell because of Shawn making it a point to flaunt his Veronica wherever they may be, obviously an attempt to make Tanya jealous. A _failed_ attempt, but nonetheless an attempt. But, in the end, good overcame evil and Adam deservingly won his prize.

Tanya smiled as she remembered that day; Adam was so happy that he could hardly keep to himself, despite his shy exterior. Just seeing Adam that way made Tanya's heart feel light and satisfied.

But something else caught Tanya's eye; another familiar item. Tied at the bottom, around the trophy's body, is a yellow handkerchief that covers the engraving. Tanya's fingers traveled down to the kerchief, taking notice of the familiar touch of its cotton cloth.

_"Oh my god! Are you all right?" Tanya asked as she ran to his side. _

_"It's okay," Adam assured. "Really, it's okay. It's just a small scratch." _

_Tanya took his hand before he could say anymore and eyed the scratch. It had been only minutes after Shawn had walked off into the other side of the beach with Veronica, leaving Adam to resume his training. _

_"It's not okay. That cut looks pretty deep," Tanya informed, worry obvious in her voice. "What happened? Did you lose your concentration?" _

_"Uh, yeah," he said, feeling stupid for being distracted by himself as his mind had wandered off elsewhere. "I got distracted. Shawn just won't go away." _

_"Shawn?" asked Tanya. _

_"Well," Adam started, his face flushed from the workout. "I was thinking about how to beat him at the competition." _

_Tanya only smiled as she reached into her jean pocket to pull out a yellow handkerchief. "You should be more careful next time. A martial artist can't be clumsy," Tanya joked as she gently held his wrist and carefully tied the handkerchief on Adam's hand, ignoring the different shades of red spreading on his cheeks. _

_Adam, when he was finally able to calm himself and keep his face color back to its supposed nationality, just watched her intently, smiling._

*_I still don't know why the thought of Shawn would distract him_,* she thought. *_It should have motivated him instead._* She thought more on the subject, but decided to let things be since it had passed long ago.

"Are you okay in there?" Adam called out from inside the kitchen.

"I'm fine," she called back. She quickly walked over to the couch and sat down.

"It's an old remedy for scratches and wounds," he informed her as he walked into the living room carrying a plate with mushed leaves mixed with different colors of other mush and a long strip of clothe. "Grandpa taught me how to make it when I was little. It works all the time."

Adam sat on the couch next to Tanya, setting the plate down on the coffee table. "Hold out your arm," Adam commanded as he took a tiny bit of the remedy between his fingers. "This will sting a little." Adam slowly placed the mush on leaves of top of her cut. She squealed as she drew her arm back.

"It burns!" she complained, holding her arm.

Adam, upon impulse, scooted closer to Tanya and drew closer to her drawn-back arm. He then proceeded to blow gentle puffs of cool air into her cut.

The cool puffs soon deteriorated the burning in her arm. With the burning gone, Tanya's mind thought freely and logically once again, quickly taking notice of the closeness of the Green Ranger and herself. He is still blowing gently into her cut, and she gazed at him wonderingly.

"There. Is that better?" Adam looks up, his face now only inches away from hers. He could feel his own cheeks burning.

He waited for her to say something, anything, to maybe break the awkwardness, but she stayed silent. Soon enough, the feeling of awkwardness left Adam, leaving only comfort. It felt so right for him to be so close to his yellow princess.

"Tanya," he whispered. "I-- I want to tell you something."

Tanya looked on expectantly. "Yes?" she whispers back, her lips barely moving.

"I-- I think I'm fall--"

beep-beep--beepbeep-beep-beep

Tanya hung her head in disappointment, and Adam glared at his communicator irritably.

"What is it?" Adam said onto his communicator.

"Tommy's gone!" the voice cried out. "Tommy's gone!"

* * *

HAHA! He almost said it but didn't. Don't you just hate me? Anyhoo, I love reviews so feel free to drop a word or two. Flames are always welcome, but don't be surprise if I don't acknowledge them. I tend to ignore those who don't like me.

Teaser for next chapter:

"This is stupid, annoying, and-- and STUPID! They need to stop kidnapping us."


	5. It Starts Here

AN: yea yea I know. I took too long to update. I apologize to this story's fans out there. I never meant to take this much time to work on this but it just happened that way. I can't quite remember the outline that I was working with when I first started on this story so I'm going to wing it a bit until I remember what I was supposed to do with all the characters. Or maybe I'll just twist the story around altogether. We'll see. Well, here it is. Hope you guys like it.

**Truths of the Heart part 5 **

**It Starts Here **

**by genielou **

"Tommy's gone," Justin exclaimed. "He was on his way there when a bunch of pirhanatrons attacked him."

Tanya leaned closer. She couldn't believe her ears.

"Damn it," Adam said. "You have no idea where he is?"

"We're working on it," replied Justin. "We've tracked down a reading very similar to his but we're not all that sure if it's really him."

"That's good. Keep on it then call me if anything else happens."

"Ok."

Tanya's eyes cast down as Adam got up from the couch and walked around, frustrated and annoyed.

"This is stupid, annoying, and-- and STUPID!" he exclaimed, thrusting his arms in the air. "They need to stop kidnapping us."

"Yea," she agreed in almost a whisper. "They need to stop that." There was a strange feeling inside of her. She could feel herself being drawn somewhere, but she didn't know where. There is a presence not too far away that's calling to her. She needs to get to it.

"I need to change my shirt," Adam said. "I'll be right back."

Once Adam is gone, Tanya turned to the door. She needs to go but she couldn't. She can't just leave Adam. She can't just leave with all the other things going on.

_Come to me... _

She can hear him. She knows his voice. She knows he can put a stop to all this.

_I will be at your every whim... _

I don't want you to be anything. Just stop all this. Make things better. Make it all better.

_Come to me... _

Hesitantly, Tanya got up and walked her way to the door. With one last turn to the direction Adam disappeared to, she turned the knob and left.

* * *

"She's coming," said Kristol, her voice barely a whisper.

"It's about time," his aunt said, as obnoxiously as ever. "Now, for the last time, are you sure you want her? I mean, not to be mean at all, but she's not even all that cute."

Kristol turned back to the screen, back to her. "You may not be able to see it, auntie," he whispered more to himself than to Divatox, "but she is the most beautiful thing that this universe can ever offer."

Divatox rolled her eyes in irritation then turned away from her nephew.

* * *

Tanya slowly walked down the pier of the Angel Grove beach. Her feet shuffled with every step that she made. She knows she is heading for trouble. She knows what she is getting herself into. But, for some reason, she went anyway. She was there, waiting for it. Waiting for whatever it was to happen. Besides the thought of keeping her friends from getting hurt even more, there was a unsettling feeling inside of her that wouldn't go away. She had to fulfill it. She had to be there. Someone is calling out to her and she just couldn't ignore it.

She reached the very end of the pier dock and stopped. With her hand over the rail, she looked out into the ocean. A light breeze blew her way and the cloth on her arm swayed in its direction. Closing her eyes, she could feel Adam softly blowing little puffs into her wound. His hands on her shoulders and his head right next to hers, giving her forehead tiny kisses...

She quickly awoke from her trance with a jolt. She stepped away from him as far as she could and looked on in surprise.

"Even with the hate in your eyes," he started, "your looks still entrances me."

She glared, knowingly. "What is it that you want from me?"

He smiled. "I don't want anything from you," he replied. "I just want you."

Her glare didn't leave her. Though she was nervous, knowing that she was in trouble, her glare never left her. She knew she had to stay strong. She had to stay tough.

"You did something to me," she started.

"Yes," he admitted. "Nothing to be afraid of, it's really nothing serious."

She glared even harder. "Stop hurting me. Stop hurting my friends."

A low chuckle escaped him. "Only if you become mine."

"Stopping saying that!" she exclaimed. "Stop proposing to me!" She couldn't understand it. She didn't know why he wanted her or what he wanted her for. But there was always that feeling, that particular feeling whenever he would propose to her, that told her that he meant well. Yet, that feeling made her feel so uncomfortable, so afraid.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, it was there. That strange feeling was within her again. She felt another presence within her, trying to come out, trying to obey. Obey who... Trying to obey him.

"Don't try to fight it," he said soothingly, noticing the change of expression on her face. "Welcome it. Believe me, you'll feel much better."

She closed her eyes, clenching it tightly. She had to push it aside. She had to ignore it. "I know better than to let anything take over me.

He smiled, admiring her even more than before. "You are just so idealistic," he complimented, though she took it in disgust. "If you must, then I'm afraid I'm going to have to do this the hard way."

With a snap of a finger, another young man appeared. He was unconscious on the ground, with his arms flailed beside him and his hair a big tangle over his face.

She stared in surprise, "Tommy!"

* * *

"Where is she?" Adam demanded as he teleported into the chamber. Justin turned from his seat confused. "Tanya," said Adam. "She's gone. Where is she?"

Justin didn't bother to ask further. He just started working his fingers frantically on the console.

"I found him!" Justin yelled, pointing on the monitor. "His vitals are clearly visible. He's there! She's with him."

"Take me there," Adam said.

Justin locked onto their destination and pushed the button. To his surprise, Adam didn't go anywhere. He remained, waiting to be teleported.

Adam looked down at himself, confused, "Well?"

Justin turned back to the console. "I don't know, something must be blocking the area. We can't go in."

Adam silently cursed to himself. "Can we at least put them on the monitor?"

"I'll try."

* * *

She ran to his side, placing his head on her lap and stroking his hair gently. "Oh god, please be all right," she pleaded. "Please be all right..."

He watched her, admiring her, wanting her. He took into mind the look of worry on her face, the way she stroked Tommy's hair, and the way the whispered in low sobs to his ears. What a waste it was for this mere human to have her sympathy.

"...ohh..."

Tanya gasped as she felt Tommy stir. "You're ok," she hugged him even tighter. "You're ok."

"Where am I?" Tommy asked, still a bit dizzy.

"Grab her."

With those simple words, Tommy felt his hands unwillingly sprung from the ground and grabbed Tanya's arms. Tanya winced in pain as she clenched her biceps to keep Tommy's fingers from squeezing through her flesh. "Tommy! Let go!"

"I'm trying!" Tommy exclaimed, now fully awake and alert.

Kristol watched Tommy as he arose from his position to stand up, Tanya's arms still in both hands. He hated seeing her in pain, but he had no choice, there was no other way. She was too strong and her will seemed to overpower his own.

He walked towards her, looking into her teary eyes. As he came nearer, she could feel the voice coming back, speaking to her. She could feel that very same voice slowly take over her.

He reached up, stroking her hair. She shivered when his fingertips touched her cheek. "Let yourself go. It won't hurt. It'll only be better."

Tommy ground his teeth as he watched with spite. "Get away from her," he said through his teeth.

Kristol grinned. "You're one to talk," he replied directly to Tommy. "You're the one holding her for me."

* * *

"What the hell is going on?"

"Calm down and stop yelling at me," Justin yelled, frustrated. "We can see what's going on but the barrier Divatox have put up prevents us from hearing anything."

Adam looked at the scream, static all over. He could barely make up the players of the scene, but he was pretty sure that he saw Tanya in it. He cursed silently again for having left her alone.

* * *

Tommy's eyes turned into slits. "What did you do to me?"

Again, that same smile curved on Kristol's lips. "You have been injected with a very powerful potion called lason." He said, though his eyes are on Tanya's. "You are under my words."

He turned his full attention back to Tanya. "Listen to me very carefully, my dear," he started, his voice so low that it was almost a drawl. "Your friend here is seriously hurt, though you don't see it. He needs help and he needs it soon. Say you are mine or he'll suffer, right here, right now, with those organs of his bleeding inside of him."

She stared at him in horror. She wasn't sure if he was serious but she didn't want to take the risk either. Her eyes moved to the side, trying to get a glance of Tommy. The look on his face was still of stricken spite. He remained strong, although she could still tell that Tommy was thinking the same thing she was.

Her eyes started tearing, her nose running a bit. She had to make a decision and it wasn't going to be a good one, at least not for her.

With all his might, Tommy lowered his head and leaned it right next to hers. "Don't," he whispered. "The others will come soon. I know it. Please don't."

Her head twisted to the side. Her lips barely moved, "I'm sorry."

Her will against the lason finally weakened. She felt a tingle run through her whole body. It was as if a whole entire presence was taking over her systems.

Kristol merely smiled.

Once Tommy felt his own control coming back to his arms, he let go of Tanya and aimed a fist at Kristol. Kristol caught it with ease. "I have no need for you anymore."

"No!" were Tommy's last words as he dissolved into nothing and was teleported somewhere else.

He turned his attention to her again. She was still there, standing still.

He walked nearer, closer, until there was barely a breath's space between his face and hers.

"Finally," he smiled, still closing in on her. "You are mine."

Tanya closed her eyes as she felt his lips kiss hers, a streak of tear stained her cheek as she desperately cried silently for Adam.


	6. Waiting for a sign

Author's Note: Hi all! Wow! It's been a hell of a long time, hasn't it? Eight long years of no update? Yes, I'm an asshole. Those who actually read this story when it first started are probably not daily readers of the site anymore, but I hope to gain new readers. The goal right now is to actually try to finish this story, hopefully by the end of this summer break. I know that the previous chapters had a lot of grammatical errors in them (or actually, just a lot of errors in general), and I do apologize for those. I really hope that my writing has gotten better these past few years. Wish me luck!

And, of course, reviews are always welcome, whether they be good or bad. But please just try to go easy on me.

And now, without further ado, enjoy the fic! ^^

**Truths of the Heart part 6**

**Waiting for a Sign**

**by genielou**

Static. That was all that was left of the scene that Adam had been watching. A long while had already passed, but he maintained his gaze, staring at the screen that not too long ago had displayed Tanya and an unknown man. The transmission ended shortly after that very same man leaned down and kissed her.

Kissed her.

Kissed Tanya.

Kissed _his _Tanya.

And now, there remained nothing more than static.

Adam wasn't even sure why he was still staring. He wasn't sure if it was the shock, the anger, or the frustration. Or maybe it was the hope that something else would appear on the screen. Hope that maybe she would appear again, unscathed and alone, smiling at the clear sky as he had once seen her do in the past. Maybe he hoped that if he stared long enough, she would come back to the scene, looking back onto him and declaring that what he had just seen was merely a joke.

But there was nothing there. He stared on. Just stared. But there was nothing.

"Bro," Rocky said in a very low voice, sympathy evident in his tone. "You need to snap out of it. This isn't going to help her."

Adam struggled to break away from his reverie, turning his head to face his friend whose frown had indented a line between his eyebrows, and further onto the rest of the Chamber's audience. Katherine sat on a chair, crying irrepressibly, while Justin patted her back, not quite sure how to handled such a setting. Adam felt bad for him; after all, he was only a kid, and probably didn't know to compose this serious of a situation yet. But his dilemma kept him from aiding in trying to calm Kat as she babbled in hysterics. His mind was still stuck on what he had witnessed, and his chest hurt from an unknown cause. He himself was broken too.

_She looked so scared, _he thought. _So scared._

Alpha and Zordon could do nothing but watch. It was a very sad thing but they, themselves, were powerless. They could only look on as their soldiers cling to sanity. More time passed along with Adam staring blankly at nothing, Rocky trying to wake him out of it, Kat shaking uncontrollably from the bawling of her tears, and Justin in a frantic confusion as he tried to calm her. These individuals, who had saved the world and the entire universe numerous times in the past, have been degraded into a group of utter mess.

There will be no progress that night. Once the excitement subsided, Alpha told them all to go home.

* * *

"When I get out of here, Divatox, you are so dead!" Tommy screamed from his sewer cell, wincing from a sharp sting producing on his lower left chest plate. _There's gotta be a few broken ribs in there_, he thought with grimace. _Or worse._

It had been hours since his and Tanya's fates had been set to play; the basis of the blame was none other than the newly introduced villain, Kristol. He knew nothing about this new protagonist, other than that he was related to Divatox. But no matter; their current situation nonetheless heated more anger than Tommy has ever remembered feeling, and all he could think of doing for the past hours of his imprisonment was to count the multiple ways that he could break Kristol's limbs.

He banged his fists on the chamber walls again, the bangs and pangs coming and going whenever he felt the energy to try to release his frustrations on the impenetrable metal.

_Tanya…_

She was in the ship. Tommy could feel it. He can sense her Turbo powers weakening even more with every waking minute, almost fading. Tommy felt responsible for it. He should've been more careful. He shouldn't have let himself get captured. He was a leader, for God's sake. He should have done better. He should have struggled more to break free from Kristol's hold. He should have been able to grab her and run, far away from Kristol's control. He should have morphed! Why didn't he morph? He should have morphed and used his weapons to get her out of there. But instead, there he was, knee-high in filthy water, waiting for who-knows-what to happen. He failed her. He knew it. He failed her tremendously. He should've protected her when it mattered, but he didn't. Instead, he let himself get captured and controlled.

Tommy had already feared the worse. Tanya had succumbed to the poison that was slowly taking over her body, and he was powerless to help her. Although Kristol had lied about letting him go, he had not lied about Tommy's particular state of health. His headache had not gone away for hours, which would mean a possible slight trauma. He was sure that a few of his ribs were bruised, sprained, or broken. And he had already found many dark, purple spots all over his body. This was what he could diagnose from his own observations, although his internal injuries may be more severe than he anticipated. The only thing that was keeping him from passing out was his anger, most specifically at the assumption that Kristol was more than likely enjoying Tanya, both as a companion and as a physical presence.

"If you touch her, you asshole!" his screams echoed as he kicked and banged his fists against the walls. "If you touch her, I'll kill you!"

Tommy's outcry travelled well throughout the upper level of the alien submarine, and well into the ears of his tormentors. Divatox pressed her fore-finger to her temple, pushing at a migraine spot that had developed from the continuous ruckus that came from below.

"Oh. My. GOD! Where does he get the energy to keep going on and on like that?" she yelled at no one in particular.

"Are you sure you don't want me to just clobber him, Auntie D?" Elgar offered as he pushed a tuna in his right ear, his left being already occupied with a guppy.

Divatox growled in frustration and stomped on the ground, "Shut up down there!" She jumped and stomped profusely, but her threats were only answered with a "You ugly witch!" and the ever-so-repetitive "You're gonna pay for this!"

"Krees- TOOOOL!" She yelled even louder. "Get your butt in here!"

The chamber doors opened momentarily to reveal Kristol, back to his princely outfit. His grin could not measure the giddiness that he displayed.

"Now calm yourself, Auntie," he pressed. "You have to keep him alive. He will play a major role in the breaking of the rangers' spirits. He is a very important tool to us."

"Then at least shut him up! My head is ready to explode."

Kristol glanced at the metal grills on the floor that led to Tommy's prison chamber. "Let him be," he smirked. "The more he tires himself out, the faster his body will give up on him."

He walks closer to the opening from which the menacing noise emanated. "The next fight will definitely wear him out. I promise."

* * *

A puff of dust flew in the air as the thirteen-year-old prodigy stacked the books one by one on the floor, being extra careful to not make too much noise. An entire week has passed since that fated night when two of his closest friends were taken away; and the time had not been favorable in passing so smoothly. It had felt like an eternity. No news had presented itself to them either. There had been no attacks from Divatox or the unknown man that they had seen with Tanya that night. There hadn't even been any taunting from Elgar. Time passed by very, very slowly as they waited for something, or anything, to happen.

... shoompt….

Lord of the Flies slid off of the pile, stubbornly taking The Chronicles of Narnia with it and both falling with a soft thump onto the carpeted floor. Justin picks them up and replaces them onto the stack, all the while unconsciously reiterating in his mind the selective studies he remembered from both texts.

_I can't believe I actually remember some of that stuff_, he thought.

His colleagues and mentors have been demeaned into depression, both repressed into their own little worlds. Justin understood well enough, but still couldn't help but feel annoyed at their lack of motivation. The search for both Tanya and Tommy had not advanced in any way at all, and Justin blamed the absence of help and support for it. Nonetheless, he was determined to find any type of clue, anything at all, in hopes that he could awaken his two friends from their trances. Of which led him to his current state; kneeling on the floor of the Little Haven library, in the middle of the night and way past his curfew, taking book after book and stacking them into pile, being extra careful to make as very little sound as possible.

"There's gotta be something here," he murmurs to himself.

Further reviews of the security tapes that he had seen over a week ago had preceded this risk. He was sure that Tanya had reached into those very shelves to either retrieve or hide something. There was nothing in the recordings that would have indicated a need to acquire anything from the shelves, concluding that Tanya must have done the latter. And so, there he was, searching for whatever it was that Tanya might have hidden. That is, if she had hidden anything at all.

… shoompt…

The Notebook slid off of the shelf that he had been working on. "You're in the wrong section, my friend," Justin told it as he held it up. He was not a fan of the romance genre in particular, but he found himself more or less tolerant to that specific book, remembering very well how he grew to acknowledge its conventional context.

"_Lame," he told her. "I'm sorry, Tanya, but it's just so lame."_

_Tanya tilted her head at him. "It's not lame, Justin," she protested. "Do you even know what it's about?"_

"_Yeah, it's about a guy who couldn't hang on to his girl and he ends up wasting the rest of his life waiting for her."_

"_And do you know how it ended?" she asked with a slight sternness in her tone._

_He stared at her guiltily and shrugged his shoulders. What did it matter if he finished it? It was a lame beginning to a lame plotline, and therefore the ending would have been lame too. Period. End of story. Kapoot. _

_She smirked as she sighed in amusement. "She comes back, you know," she offered. "She comes back to him eventually. So if you had read between the lines, you'd had known that this book was about dedication and commitment."_

"_Commitment?" he inquired. "I didn't really get that from it. I just thought it was another sappy cliché."_

"_Okay, well, I guess it kinda is," she agreed. "But think about it, he loved her so much, that he spent the rest of his life committed to only loving her. He didn't even know that she was going to come back to him. And he didn't have to wait for her. But he did. That's how dedicated he was to just the mere thought of her."_

_Justin furrowed his brows. "I guess that makes sense," he replied. "So it's kind of like unrequited love?"_

"_Exactly," she grinned, satisfied that her young companion finally understood._

"_So," he continued, a mischievous grin growing on his lips. "What you do, is that dedication too?"_

_She frowned. "What are you talking about?"_

_His grin grows. "You know," he pressed further. "With Adam. Is that commitment too?"_

_Her eyes widened, taken aback by the question. After a very slight moment of contemplation, she shook her head and smiled knowingly at the young boy. "Let's just go back to your homework, all right?"_

That was one of his fondest memories of her, not because of any relevant emotion that he and she displayed. It was more because of a profound revelation that he discovered of her. That was when he realized that the Nubian beauty that he had thought so sophisticated, so proper, so wise, so talented, and so perfect, had secrets too; and that she wasn't very good at keeping that one very important secret. Justin thought this to be very entertaining. The thought that his newly-found friends that he looked up to so much as having insecurities enabled him to see them as humans, and therefore allowing himself to talk comfortably with them even more than he had when he initially met them.

_There's gotta be something in here_, he insisted to himself, stacking more books into piles on the floor. _If there's any sort of dedication in me, now's the time to test it._

* * *

_Tanya removes the strand that had fallen onto her face. The wind was particularly teasing on that fair day as she and Adam enjoyed each other's company on the grassy hill. Her composure shows no signs of her previous dangers._

"_Do you want to start practicing again?" he asks her._

_She merely smirks at his suggestion._

"_Alright," he agrees. "We'll sit awhile longer."_

_He chuckles as the wind taunts her again; a few curls hitting the tip of her nose. She replaces them onto the top of her head. She then turns to him and pouts her lips. At this, he could not help but admire._

_The wind blew even harder, causing several strands of hair to cover the entirety of her face. He laughed heartedly as she pouts even more, similar amused of her current state._

"_Here, let me help you," he offers. _

_He shifts himself to kneel in front of her. She closes her eyes and his hands worked at releasing her blanketed face. His fingers move gently, carefully picking each strand, and replacing them onto the back of her ears. His touch was slight and soft on her forehead and cheeks._

_She opens her eyes as he removes the last strand, halting his movement as her eyes locked onto his; entrancing him with her inquiring expression._

_The corner of her lips curl up to a smile as she took both hands that had been suspended on the sides of her face, and pulls them down onto her lap. _

"_Thanks," she whispers, her smile maintaining her gratitude._

Adam gasps loudly as he awoke, bolting upright on his bed. His heavy breathing contradicted the silent room as his eyes searched in confusion. Upon realizing his reality, he buries his face in his hands, heaving an incoherent cry.

* * *

"You have to stop blaming yourselves," Rocky insisted as he slams his glass of soda down. "You two have got to snap out of it."

The mood was starting to get to him. Him! The very guy whose enthusiasm could brighten an entire room! His infamous joyfulness had been constantly put to the test since he had put it upon himself to try to console his friends from their desperate position. So far, his efforts had been to no avail.

It wasn't as if Rocky felt any less of the same conviction. On the contrary, he felt the same pain and guilt that the others had been burying themselves under. Rocky was devastated when he had gotten the call from Justin. He felt helpless, useless even, and couldn't even think of how to react. Sure, when he had served his duties as a Ranger, this sort of thing was not improbable but it was definitely not as severe. When Tommy had been taken by Prince Gasket, they had gotten through it with little to no damage to their physical or mental states. In fact, they had all developed within them a heightened valor. But with this, it seemed more real. Tanya's injuries and violent berserks, and Tommy's sudden disappearance, of which this time there was no trace of him at all as opposed to Prince Sprocket who was clumsy in securing his tracks… All of it felt surreal, and somehow even more serious than their previous challenges.

And Tanya? Why Tanya, of all people? Rocky has commended her strength and will before, but it was undeniable that her experience was not as great as the others'. What if she's too weak? What if she doesn't handle herself as well as she should? If Divatox had wanted to take someone, Rocky wished it to be anyone else but her, even himself.

Adam and Katherine had been speechless since that night, only responding with mindless sighs and uh-hum's when asked a question. Both of their daily schedules were as thus: go to the Chamber, spend hours typing and analyzing on different consoles, drink coffee, go home, sleep, and wake up a few hours later to do it all over again. And both had not attended their jobs either, their excuse being of personal reasons. Fortunately, they were both only part-timers and did not require further explanations for their absences. But their recent obsession, however, had taken quite a toll to their forms. Katherine had not worn make-up in days, making her look even more haggard than she already was. And Adam- oh Adam. His face had gotten thinner, and dark circles had invaded the bags under his eyes. Furthermore, sleepless nights had caused him to squint his eyes on a daily basis, serving justice to the appropriate prejudice claims of his nationality. These two, who had once glorified in their healthy and athletic bodies, were now appropriated into the norm of the unhealthy and the sick.

Rocky props his elbows on the table and buries his face in his hands, groaning in frustration. "There was just no way of seeing it," he tells them. "Divatox pulled a good one on us. There was nothing either of you could have done to prevent it from happening."

"I shouldn't have left her alone," Adam murmurs, staring intently at his cup of coffee. "I should have kept an eye on her."

"And that would've kept her from leaving?" Rocky asked sternly. "Divatox would still have gotten to her, one way or another."

This statement had the opposite effect that Rocky had hoped for. Rather than ignite inspiration, it instead pulled Adam's guilt into view. The teen's brows furrowed as his eyes glazed, retreating once again to his self-preservation.

Rocky sighs upon noticing this and turns to Kat. "He's been in this kind of a situation before," he tells her. "He knows what to do. He'll pull through."

Nothing. No response. Kat gave no indication that she was listening to him at all. She just sat there staring at her hands, entranced by the pattern of her own freckles.

"This is getting us nowhere," Rocky sighs again.

Adam's eyes wanders elsewhere while Rocky's protests served as a background noise in his ears. The Youth Center was especially crowded that day. Every table was occupied, the arcade section was exceptionally loud, and the floor area was filled with sparring students. The entire venue was an eyeful, but what caught Adam's attention was a specific couple, sitting on the tiny bleachers at the far back end of the place. They look particularly engrossed in each other's company; him, caressing her hands, and her, smiling so shyly. Her chocolate skin pulled Adam to the thought of Tanya once more.

_If it weren't for her hair, she'd look a lot like her, _he thought.

She did, in fact, resembled Tanya very much in build. What indicated otherwise was her long straight hair that shone auburn streaks in the light, and the specifically dark palette of her short black dress. This, as opposed to Tanya's thick, natural curls, and her pastel preference in clothes.

She crosses her legs as she giggles at something he didn't care to learn of. Adam's query had instead moved on to her partner. He looked so familiar to him. His looks, his pose… Even the way he tugged at her arm to pull her closer. There was something about him that evoked a feeling of annoyance from Adam.

It was then that Adam realized who he was. It was Chris, the man that Elgar was ready to behead, had they not stepped in to interfere. It was also the very same man that Tanya had offered to escort home, implying a relationship that Adam didn't approve of.

She tilts her head slightly towards Adam's direction, revealing a mocking gaze and a knowing smile- aimed at him.

Adam's eyes widen as he realized who she was. He rises from his seat and starts to walk absentmindedly towards her, all the while maintaining a confused look on his face. They, in turn, remained in their position, watching curiously as Adam came closer and closer.

He stops right in front of her, completely ignoring her companion. His frown softens as a feeling of relief took over him. His eyes travelled from her face, to her chest and arms, and finally to her legs. He sighs at the sight of her, embracing the nostalgia that her presence offered. But upon seeing her fingers intertwined with that of her accomplice, his brow furrowed once more as a combination of hurt, longing, and confusion manifested in his expression.

"I don't understand," Adam says.

She laughs loudly.

Rocky and Kat had already followed Adam, standing right behind him with similar countenance.

She sighs as her laugh subsides, though her taunting smile remains. "Did you miss me?"

Kat ignored this and decided to concentrate on the other, betraying all conceptions of the calm character that she had been known for. "You," she spat with conviction. "Who are you?"

He only smirks in response.

Adam's eyes had not left Tanya's, searching and hoping for an explanation. "Tanya," he starts nervously. "What's going on?"

She licks her lips before grinning at him. "You don't get it?" she replies. "It's not that hard."

Rocky's fists clenched at the inevitable, but still prayed for the opposite of what he was expecting.

Tanya lifts her chin as she held her left hand up, the tips of her ring finger and thumb joined and ready.

"I switched teams."

Her fingers snap. A school of pirhanatrons suddenly appeared out of thin air and filled the already crowded building. Screaming and yelling emitted all over as Rocky, Adam, and Kat stood frozen in shock. The Youth Center's occupants began running around frantically as the pirhanatrons chased them, attacking the ones that they could get their hands on. Rocky was first to recover as he grabbed Kat's arm and squeezed it, waking her from her awe. Adam's eyes looked around soon after, not sure of how to comprehend the situation.

"Surprised?" Chris jeered. "That's not all."

Chris snaps his fingers too. All three of them turn and shield their eyes as an intense red light flashed in the middle of the room, dimming to reveal the Red Turbo Ranger. The usual shine of his armor was not there. There was, instead, a slight saturation to his color, apparent of weakness in his powers. His stance, however, still indicated his readiness to attack.

Kat gasped as her eyes widen; the same confusion that Adam had recently portrayed now showing on her own face.

Tanya bites her lower lip seductively, and her eyes glimmered menacingly. "Let the games begin."


	7. Fighting for a Clue

Author's Note: Hi all! How is it going so far? Hopefully not as many errors on the last chapter? If there are still a lot, again I apologize for those. I try but writing is not really my major so going through this story is like a hobby for me.

I think it's appropriate to warn you that this chapter got a bit more violent that I had initially intended. Maybe it's because I'm older now and am not prone to it as much as I was back then? Anyway, the rating of this fic is T, but if anyone thinks I should raise it up, please let me know.

Also, I just recently realized that I have no idea why the title of this fic is _Truths of the Hearts_. I mean, I'm sure I had a motive for it eight years ago, but for the life of me, I cannot remember what that was. I wish I could remember the outline I created though. That would make the writing process so much faster.

Anyhoo, please read and review. Flames are welcome but please don't be too mean. Encouragement always do seem to urge me to write faster. Enjoy! ^^

**Truths of the Hearts**

**Fighting for a Clue**

**By genielou**

"Tommy, STOP!" Katherine yells as the Red Turbo Ranger lunged for her. With just a few words from Tanya, or who was seemingly Tanya in a much more provocative guise, the pirhanatrons that invaded the Youth Center suddenly shrieked their alien battle cry and heightened the aggression of their attacks. Civilians ran around, trying to evacuate the building as Rocky and Adam fought off their respected offenders. Katherine ducked and dodged as the Red Ranger threw punches and kicks, most of which were aimed at her head.

At the first chance, the Red Ranger grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her towards the ground. Losing her footing, she falls hard with both knees and hands hitting the polished floor. She rolls away barely in time as his foot slams down to where her head would have been.

Adam turns and leaps a kick at a pirhanatron's head, continuously towards another one's shoulder. "We have to get the people out of here so we can morph!" he yells over to his friend, who was surrounded by an equal heap of attackers.

Rocky flips one over his shoulder and nods in response, quickly running towards the nearest civilian to aid their escape. Adam tries to do the same after throwing his last attacker against a table, but was stopped by another hoard of rusty-colored soldiers at the ready. He groans in annoyance as he jumps to avoid a kick to his legs. All the while, Tanya stayed seated, watching intently; giggling and laughing as she and Chris pointed at the frantic Rangers.

Adam grabs a pirhanatron by the shoulders and heaves it towards a huddled group. He dodges a swing to his head and inadvertently glanced at Tanya's direction, just in time to see her bite her lower lip as Chris buries his face on her neck. Distracted, a punch falls hard on Adam's stomach and a sweep to his legs leaves him lying on his back, curled to a position while pushing on his stomach in pain.

Tanya sees this and furrows her brows.

Kat dodges another punch to the head. "Tommy, please stop this!" she pleads. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"You don't know what you're doing," the Red Ranger mocks in a high-pitched voice. "Do you have any idea how whiny you are?"

The Red Ranger grabs her arm and punches her midsection. She doubles over but blocks another punch headed to her chest. Kat struggles free and strikes a successful blow to the side of his helmet. His head sways but turns back to her, unscathed. Annoyed, he aims a fist to her face. Kat's eyes water as she covers her broken nose with one hand. The Red Ranger inches closer and grabs her arm again, squeezing her wrist with abnormal strength. Her breath catches as she felt her bones threaten to break.

"Maybe I should have just tried to get Kim back when I had the chance," he tells her, spite in his voice as he holds her face up by the chin. "She and I have always had a special connection. You know?"

He throws her over his shoulder, and she lands to the side, doubled over in shock. Kat clenches her teeth as she shudders from the physical hits, trying to push the Red Ranger's taunts out of her mind. He pursues her more, pulling her up to her feet by a mass of her blonde locks and pushing her head against the wall.

With his hand still locked onto her hair, he lowers his head to hers as his other hand closed in on her neck. "You'll never be as good as her," he whispers. "You'll never be able to replace her."

Kat's eyes welled and threatened to leak. The Red Ranger's hand travelled down to her chest, stopping to hover over the top buttons of her shirt.

"You can keep trying though." He gathers the top crumples of her shirt in his hands and rips it downwards, tearing the entire shirt in half and leaving remnants of its pink, flowery pattern in his grip. Defeated, Kat's nose start to run as she succumbs to the convulsion of her pain; her tears floods to her cheeks and chin. She felt the chill of the holiday weather on her bare skin.

"Please, please," she begged as his hand now hovered over her brassiere, teasing to untangle its lock.

A pair of arms encircled the Red Ranger's waist, pulling him away from Kat. She opens her eyes in time to see the Blue Turbo Ranger through her foggy vision, struggling and grunting as he wrestled the Red Ranger to the ground.

"Adam, now!" Rocky yells as he guides the last civilian out the door. Adam hears him and shouts his transformation cry.

Upon freeing himself from the Blue Ranger's hold, the Red Ranger hits the floor hard again as the Green Turbo Ranger tackles him down. Rocky runs over to Katherine, who had slid down to the floor, depleted in a fit of weeps as she lifts a shaking hand to her bloody face.

"Kat! Kat?" he tries to compose her, both hands to her face and careful not to touch her wounds. "Kat, they need you. Come on, pull yourself together."

She looks up at him, blinking while she tries to stop her tears. She heaves a deep breath and nods her head. "Alright," she assures him as he helps her up. "Go on, get out of here."

Rocky bounds for nearest exit, but not without a few more kicks and punches on his way. He felt the surge of Kat's transformation as he escapes from the building.

"Tommy, you don't know what you're doing!" The Green Ranger shouts as he dodged his teammate's attacks. "Stop this!"

The Blue Ranger concentrated on the pirhanatrons, destroying as many as he could and quickly reducing their number. The Pink Turbo Ranger takes out her Turbo Wind Fire upon seeing the Green Ranger fly across the room, and aims for the Red Ranger. Her arms pulls back the string of her bow and releases an array of pink beams towards him. He rolls and leaps, dodging every one. Upon realizing his aggressor, he takes out his Turbo Sword and shifts his full attention on her.

"You are such a pain!" he yells as he strikes at her bow. Her bow disappears in a flash of pink light as her throbbing wrist fails her and let go. The Red Ranger swipes his sword at her, creating sparks as the blade of his sword makes contact with her suit. The Green Ranger tries to run to her but was stopped when a pirhanatron attacks him from behind.

The Pink Ranger struggles to get up, all the while inching backwards as the Red Ranger walks towards her. The damage to her suit weakened her more and she starts to feel the full impact of her injuries, inside and outside of her Ranger suit. His sword dissolves into shades of red light before he reaches for his Auto Blaster. His thumb presses the button that maximized its setting. When he reached her, his hand enclosed around her neck again, tightened his clutch as hard as he could, resulting in her soft whimpering.

"Know your place, Kat," he spat. "You're nothing but a distraction."

He presses the blaster to her stomach and squeezes the trigger. The Blue Ranger cries out her name as he witnessed the red lasers explode on her midsection. Her arms flail as her thin frame was pushed backwards by the impact. The Pink Ranger's body lands hard on the ground with limbs spread, burnt skin peaking through the massive hole on her suit.

"Kat!" The Green Ranger wails. He holds out his arms as shades of green light misted in front of him, flashing to reveal his Thunder Cannon.

"That's enough!" he positions his canon on his shoulder and aims it towards the Red Ranger. His cry catches Tanya's attention, halting her laughs and giggles as she turns to the scene that concerned him. Green light heated within the Ranger's canon as it powered up.

The Red Ranger took notice and aimed his blaster towards it. "Yeah right."

The Red Ranger's blaster shoots just before the canon could. The Red light penetrated through the opening of the canon and merged with its green heat; the incompatibility of the two lights exploded and the Green Ranger's head propels sideways from its force. He lands with a loud thud to the floor, unmoving. Smoke emanated from his helmet as sparks flew from the burnt spots of his helmet's dark shades.

Tanya gasps as she bolts up from her seat, eyes concentrated on the Green Ranger's surmise. She frowns, worry forming in her expression and fists clenched to the sides. Chris stops his laughing as he observes this.

"We're done here," he declares. And with a wave of his hand, he, Tanya, the pirhanatrons, and the Red Turbo Ranger disappears.

It takes a second for the Blue Ranger to catch his breath. After a quick scan of the room, making sure that all assailants have retreated, he runs towards his fallen friends and calls for help on his communicator.

* * *

The loud humming of the submarine engine howled through the room as pirhanatrons ran around arranging Tanya onto her bed. A needle is poked through the vein on her arm and attached to an I.V.

"I thought the poison had already consumed her," Kristol started. "I guess I was wrong."

Divatox looks over their attendee, contemplating for the umpteenth time why her nephew picked her, of all beings, as his choice of a bride.

"Your stupid poison is not working," she spat. "You know very well what will happen if it keeps on not working."

"Relax, Auntie," he assures her. He plunges a syringe into the cork of a tiny glass bottle. "I've anticipated as such. She just needs a stronger dosage."

Kristol takes the syringe and penetrates the tube of the I.V. with it. Its contents push through the liquid in the tube and travels down to Tanya's arm. Satisfied, he hands the syringe to a pirhanatron and gazes admiringly at her sleeping form.

"We'll have to do this a few more times. But she'll come around," he removes a lock of hair from her forehead and strokes her cheek. "She'll come around."

Down below, the usual bangs and pangs that had once echoed through its walls are now silent. All that could be heard are the numerous drips of water on the already flooded floors. Tommy sat on a cold, damp bench with his shoulder and forehead leaned against the wall; the cool of the rusty metal slightly keeping his headache at bay. He was weak. He had gone in and out of consciousness for the past hour, and could feel his body threaten to make him fall back into sleep again. He struggled to stay awake.

Tommy remembered everything; from what he did to what he said. He remembered every detail of it, and this caused his headache to worsen.

_Oh God, _he thought to himself. _Kat…_

He remembered every kick and punch that he had thrown at her. He was there, present with every action and helpless to do otherwise. He remembered taunting her, mocking her of their present relationship. He remembered the softness of her fragile body against his knuckles as he continuously did damage to her midsection. He remembered the pain in her expression as he ripped her shirt in half and assaulted her even more. This traumatized him as it was such an aggressive teasing of their partnership. He had wanted to scream for her to just run away, but had found himself saying and doing the exact opposite. Especially with the last strike that he had executed against her; his eyes watered when he saw her frail body hitting the ground, unmoving.

_What have I done?_

And he had seen her. Her. There. Tanya. With her arms around Kristol. It was the first time he'd seen her since they were both captured and he had been so relieved to see her. But when Kristol had kissed her neck, Tommy's blood started to boil and he had wanted nothing more than to charge him right then and there. Unfortunately, his body decided to charge at his teammates instead. His body concentrated on attacking and almost destroying Katherine at most.

_Kat._

His eye lids start to feel heavy. Tommy heaves a heavy sigh, trying hard not to cry. He had done that already. Doing it again would just weaken him even more. He resolves with just shifting his head to press a different part of his forehead to the cold wall, the coolness relieves him slightly.

_Kat_, _I'm so so sorry…_

* * *

_Tanya removes the strand that had fallen onto her face. The wind was particularly teasing on that fair day as she and Adam enjoyed each other's company on the grassy hill. Her features displayed her as she should've been in his eyes; shoulder-length curly hair, sporty yellow outfit, and a toothy grin that she was loved by her friends for._

"_Do you want to start practicing again?" he asks her_

_She merely smirks at his suggestion. Adam smiles back, but furrows his brows as he feel a sensation of dejavu._

"_Alright," he agrees, realizing the truth behind his confusion but choosing to ignore it. He instead decided to recite his usual lines. "We'll sit awhile longer."_

_He chuckles as the wind taunts her again; a few curls hitting the tip of her nose. He stares at her as she replaces them onto the top of her head. She, upon noticing this, turns to him and pouts her lips. At this, he could not help but admire._

_He remains silent for awhile, analyzing himself, but all the while wanting to merely enjoy such a calm state. His want for quiet pleasure overtook, and he resided with just enjoying himself._

_The wind blew even harder, causing several strands of her hair to cover the entirety of her face. He laughs heartily as she pouts even more, similarly amused of the wind's successful offense._

"_Here, let me help you," he offers._

_He shifts himself to kneel in front of her. She closes her eyes as his hands worked at releasing her blanketed face. His fingers moved gently, carefully picking each strand, cherishing them more than the previous time he had had this dream, and replacing them onto the back of her ears. His touch was slight and soft on her forehead and cheeks, and he found himself admiring those too, moreso than the last time he was in this scene. His fingers moved slower, tracing an invisible line on her ebony skin._

_She opens her eyes as he removes the last strand, halting his movement as her eyes locked onto his, entrancing him. Then she frown her eyebrows. She looks at him with worry in her expression, her eyes roaming from every crevice of his round face. Then, relief took over her. She looks at him as if this was the very first time in years that she has seen him._

_The corner of her lips curl up to a smile as if the recognition and exchange she had displayed did not happen. She took both of his hands that had been suspended on the sides of her face in her own hands, and pulls them down onto her lap._

"_Thanks," she whispers, her smile maintaining her gratitude._

Adam awakes with eyes wide open. The cushion underneath his body felt fairly hard and something very wet cooled the side of his face that had been burnt from the blast. He lifts his head up to examine himself and sees that a few of his clothing had been removed, leaving him with only his shorts on. Bandages cover the majority of his limbs, and large patches of white gauze has invaded his chest and stomach. Bleeps and peeps can be heard from the machine next to him, displaying a line on the screen that indicated he was still alive. He groans as he tries to sit up. Rocky hears this and leaves his station to run to his side.

"Hey, buddy," he coos. "How are you doing?"

Adam frowns at him, confusion setting in again.

"We're in the Power Chamber," he answers in turn. "We all teleported here shortly after you lost consciousness."

He looks around the Chamber, and, sure enough, they were all present. Justin sat by a console, typing away as Zordon gave him instructions. And Alpha stood by another examination bed, similar to the one that Adam was sitting on, tending to a very wounded Katherine. Her clothing had also been removed, leaving her with only a sports bra and her bicycle shorts on. Her body displayed the same bandaged state that Adam's body was in; but what the bandages couldn't cover on her body showed how much more severe her injuries were. A small tube has been taped to her nose. Her face was beaten up; bruises and cuts were evident in her features, and even her left eye was still puffed with the swelling. A cast had been placed on her left wrist and neck. And a clear gel has been spread like butter throughout her abdominals; the color of her burnt flesh, the blood reds and the charcoaled skin can be seen through it. Adam felt a sickness develop in his stomach upon seeing this.

Rocky turns toward the direction of his sight. "Tommy did a number on her," he reiterate to him. "But she'll pull through. Alpha's got all of this amazing healing stuff that he put on her and he says that she'll be just fine. It'll just take a long while for her to recover."

Adam slowly moves his legs to the side, pushing himself off of the bed with much difficulty. Rocky takes an arm and puts it around his shoulder, guiding Adam as he inched his way towards Kat. His footsteps were heavy and he could feel his exhaustion with each movement. If it hadn't been for Rocky, he probably would have fallen to the ground.

He leans a hand on her bed upon reaching her. He looks her over once again, taking in the damages to her body.

"She hasn't woken up yet?" he asks hoarsely, noticing the dryness of her lips.

"No," Rocky answers, still standing by Adam's side to make sure he doesn't fall down. "Alpha put her under a self-induced coma. We figured it would be best until most of her body heals."

He nods, not sure what else to say. Even though they both suffered the same fate, he still felt obligated to a certain degree of sympathy towards her. What had happened to her, what Tommy had done to her. Adam didn't quite know how to define it, but he had a slight idea what she must have been feeling when the scene had played out.

With Tommy in mind, his thoughts quickly shifted to Tanya; the difference in her looks, her physical actions towards Chris, and the dream…

"I finally got something, Adam."

Adam turns to Justin as he made his way over while holding out his hand.

Adam frowns at the metal gadget in Justin's hand as he takes it from him, holding it close to his eyes to examine it. "This is Tanya's morphing key," he acknowledges, noticing the yellow symbol on it.

"I found it in the library," Justin tells him, taking the key back. Adam frowns and Rocky answers him.

"Remember? Justin said that he found security recordings of Tanya running around in Little Haven? Getting chased by a guy we didn't know?" Rocky started. "The last bit of the recording showed her reaching into a book shelf in the library. It turns out that she reached in there to hide her key."

"I searched for it the other night and found it right where it was supposed to be," Justin offers, with a hint of self-satisfaction in his voice.

Adam nods. "Okay, so she purposely left her key there. That doesn't really tell us anything."

"Yeah, it does," Rocky replies, diminishing the pessimist inquiries before it could start. "Think about it. We've never seen her morph since she was taken away, right?"

"Right."

"And Tommy had been morphed when we saw him last. You know, when he almost destroyed all of us," Justin continues. "But think about the first time Tommy was captured, when we were watching him on the screen."

Adam jogged his memory of that time, thinking back to how Tommy had looked on the viewing screen when it had happened. "He wasn't morphed," he thought aloud.

"Right," Justin says. "What else?"

Adam scrunches his nose in thought. "The look on his face," he slowly pieced together. "He still looked like himself. And it looked like he was talking to Tanya like he was still himself."

"Yes!" Justin exclaims, unable to hold his excitement. But was disappointment when he was answered with Adam's "So?"

"Ai-yi-yi! Don't you get it, Adam?" Alpha offers, still standing by Kat's side. "Tommy was himself when he wasn't morphed, but is a completely different person when he _is _morphed. That means that the poison was inserted into him while he was in his Ranger suit."

Adam nods as he tries to contemplate this.

"In fact," Justin continues. "If we were to scan Tommy's body readings right now, we'd probably find that most of the poison is in his suit, not his actual body."

"So," Adam started, finally understanding. "Because Tanya is not herself, unmorphed, then that means her Ranger suit might still be clean. And if somehow she was to morph—"

"Then there's a chance that she'll be cured!"

Adam smiles at the boy's excitement, almost feeling similarly as hope fills his mind. But his smile fades as he thinks through it again.

"We can't even get close to her," he starts. "That guy is always with her, and there are always pirhanatrons or Tommy keeping us away from her."

"Sure, that's true," Rocky says, putting an arm around his best friend in comfort. "But at least we're getting somewhere."

Adam smirks back at him, accepting his friend's assurance. "So," he starts again. "How are we going to do this?"

"Ai-yi-yi, I thought you'd never ask!"

The short robot waddles over to the nearest console, pressing button after button until a scene appears on the viewing screen. It was them, fighting in the Youth Center. It was the battle that they had recently been in.

"Look closely, Adam," Alpha tells him.

Adam watches closely, familiar with the scene that was unfolding. It was the part of the battle where Kat had already fallen down and he himself was aiming his Canon at the Red Ranger. The action pursues and he sees himself flung to the side as his Canon explodes on his shoulders. He watched intently, analyzing the action. And what had especially caught his attention was Tanya's reaction from her seat on the portable bleacher.

"Do you see it, Adam?" Justin asks him, excitement in his voice again.

Alpha rewinds the recording and presses more buttons to close in on Tanya. The screen zooms in to show only Tanya and Chris on the screen. On cue, she bolts up from her seat with an expression of shock, her straight hair bouncing up as she did so, staring towards what would be the Green Ranger's direction. Upon this, Chris then stands up, waves a hand with incoherent speech, and they all disappear, leaving two rangers on the floor and one frantically tending to them.

"You see it, don't you?" Rocky asks him again.

Adam nods absentmindedly, staring at the screen. His mind was still on that moment when Tanya had shown an expression towards the Green Ranger's injury.

"She's in there, Adam," Rocky confirms. "She's still in there."

Adam opens his mouth, then closes it again, not sure what to say. His mind momentarily goes back to his dream; how there were slight differences from the last time he had had the dream. He wanted so much to allow hope into his attitude but was confused as to how to address this newfound information. After a moment of silence, Zordon offers his words.

"Tanya must still be fighting the poison from completely taking over her body," his voice booms over them. "We must keep our heads up and hope that she can keep up this fight until we can get to her."

"We have to get her to morph," Justin says, looking at Adam. "If she morphs, there's a chance that her Ranger powers will diminish the poison."

Adam nods more, accepting this as a viable gain for ambition.

"Alright, so we finally have something on Tanya," he addresses them. "But what about Tommy? What do we about him?"

Justin's eyes cast down as Rocky tries hard to maintain his gaze with Adam. He sighs before answering. "Alpha explained to us that a Ranger suit has never before been easily contaminated the way Tommy's had been. He says that in this sort of a situation, there is only one obvious way to fix it, and that is to get him to demorph."

Adam had already guessed what he was trying to get to, but remained silent to preserve his denial.

"You guys have to take him down, Adam," Rocky continues, the words come out carefully and slowly. "You guys have to take him down the old fashioned way."

"And it won't be easy," the robot chimes it. "This is Tommy we're talking about! He's been doing this way before any of you had."

Adam nods at this, fully aware of how much faster, stronger, and more capable their leader were than any of them. The last battle had proved just that.

"We'll have to wait for Kat to recover," he tells them, taking a lead in planning. "When she's up and about, then we'll try again at the first chance we get."

His glance travels over to Kat again, taking in the severity of her form. "This whole thing must have been a shock for her," he continues. "But when Tommy comes out again, we're all going to have to put aside our friendship with him and try our hardest to get him back here."

Adam looks back at his audience with newly found determination in his eyes. "When we meet him again, no one gives up until Tommy falls down."


	8. Recoveries and Revelations on a Silent N

Author's Note: There were a lot of errors in the last chapter, wasn't there? You don't need to tell me, I know it. Sigh. I really have to keep a closer eye on that. I promise I'll try harder for this chapter.

Everyone has probably figured this out now, but I have been trying to put some limelight on all of the characters. You know, try to express how they themselves are experiencing the story. I think I've gotten to everyone so far, sans Alpha and Zordon. But if anyone thinks that I've been shortcoming any of the characters, please let me know.

Enjoy! And remember that reviewing always urge me to write faster.

**Truths of the Hearts**

**Recoveries and Revelations on a Silent Night**

**By genielou**

_Adam stares at her as she untangles her fingers from her hair, persistent at freeing herself from the thin curtain forming in front of her eyes. He had seen this before, quite a few times before, and has learned to control his actions within it; not for the benefit of being in control, but merely for the benefit of being able to '_be' _in this moment with her. He knew it wasn't real, but it didn't matter. He just wanted her there, next to him, for as long as this dream allowed him._

_Her eyes wanders to him, query with expectation. She was waiting for him to offer his aid. She was waiting for him to do what he usually did at this part of the dream. He smiles, then chuckles as he rearrange himself._

_He removed the strands slower- - much, much slower- - than any of the other times that he had done it. He wanted to savor each movement that he made, making sure to touch her skin with every hair that he handled. _

_She opens her eyes, this time earlier than the last. He took note of this._

_She looked at him anxiously. Anxiously? Why? He wasn't sure, and if he knew how to fulfill her anxiousness, he would have. But for that moment, clueless to the answers that he seeks, he merely cups her face with both hands, stroking a cheek with his thumb._

_She maintains her gaze, non-smiling, but still content. His lips quiver, and he suddenly feels his confidence waver under her stare._

"_I want to tell you so many things," he murmurs, not caring if his speech was audible enough for her. "There is so much that I want to say to you."_

_She smiles at him, the hazel in her eyes softening as they travel down to his mouth, then up again to his own dark eyes. Both of her hands reach up, and her fingers stroke his hands, tickling him slightly. She covers them over his, her fingers softly prying them away from her cheeks. She holds onto him, squeezing his hands. As she pulls his hands slowly onto his lap, he notices her cheeks redden with blush. _

_Then she stares at them, his hands. She stares down at his hands in hers momentarily, and Adam couldn't help but be both amused and confused. She murmurs something inaudibly, but Adam thought he had heard, "… home…"_

_The corner of her lips rise, and she looks up at him again. "Thanks."_

Adam opens his eyes, and knew immediately where he was. He was in reality again, the cruel, harsh reality where he was bedridden in an extraterrestrial chamber, bandaged and hooked onto a machine that irritated him continuously with its menacing beeps and peeps.

The dream. It had become more and more frequent lately. He had been falling deep into sleep a lot for the past couple of days because of his injuries, and he has found himself numerously encountering the very same dream. Every time he dozed off, even just slightly dozed off, the dream appeared. Each time he had had the dream, they became more detailed, more intimate, and more pleasurable to him. And each time he had had the dream, they somehow felt more real. In fact, they seem to become more and more real.

Adam closes his eyes, and lets his mind drift away, hoping to be able to have his mysterious dream again. It didn't take long. His medication took over again soon after.

* * *

"These are amazing calculations, Justin," the older man on the screen before him answered. "Have you shown this to the others?"

"No," Justin replies, his thick hair bobs around as he shakes his head. "They're already so tired. I wanted to let them all rest first."

"Where are they?"

"They're in the other room, sleeping," Justin rubs his tired eyes. "Adam and Kat are under heavy medication. Rocky is keeping an eye on them both."

A nod, then a concerned frown. "And you? Staying awake for this long is very bad for your health, especially at your age."

"I know," Justin nods. "But I just really wanted to have this sorted out before I go to bed."

More nodding, then silence, and then shuffling of papers.

"So… do you think it'll work?" Justin asked eagerly as he strained to see what his mentor was doing. His voice squeaked with nervousness.

More nodding, more frowning, then nodding again.

"It needs a few modifications," he tells Justin. "Otherwise, I don't doubt that it'll work."

He smiles as he witnesses the child grin and bounce up from his chair with relief, reminding him of how he had been in his adolescence. "Really?" Justin exclaims. "Thank goodness."

Justin seats himself back down as he repositions his chair. "Okay," he tells the screen. "What kind of changes does it need, Billy?"

* * *

She lay awake on her soft bed, eyes staring at the ceiling as she tried to ignore the coldness that was starting to seep through from the dampness of the metal walls. She lay very still, aware of the tube attached to her arm. Kristol had told her that she had been unhealthy as of late, and the liquid kept her from getting worse. He hadn't really told her why she was unhealthy. And, for the life of her, she could not remember how she had gotten unhealthy or how long she had been that way. Actually, there were a lot of questions in her mind that she had tried to talk to Kristol about, but every time she tried, he would just wave his hand and she would find herself suddenly waking up in her bed, a tube attached to her arm.

A lot of things didn't make sense to her as of late, but she knew better than to question Kristol again. The man was the love of her life. He is what she lives for.

But that man- - the man from the previous battle… Her mind kept lingering back to him; to the look on his face when he had seen her; to the pain that seemed to emanate from his chest, and then crawl itself slowly onto his expression. She had said what she was supposed to say; she had said the lines that Kristol had had her rehearse. And with each word that she recited, his pain became more obvious. Strangely, as she witnessed this, she started to feel a slight tinge of- - guilt?

She wasn't sure. And when that canon exploded on his shoulder, she had reacted so instinctively. She hadn't meant to. Her body just acted out of her accord. She didn't understand it.

One thing was for sure though, and it was that Kristol had been upset. How does she know? Because he waved his hand and she once again found herself waking up on her bed with a tube to her arm.

She sighs deeply, craving for some sort of heat. _Why is it always so cold in here?_

Her mind wanders even more. And more. And more, into the questions that she had and the answers she had been craving for.

Then her mind strays to a dream that she had been having for the past few days; a green hill overlooking a clear lake on a clear but windy day. And a man sitting next to her, sometimes staring at her, but always smiling at her. During these dreams, she always found herself stupidly giggling like a little girl with a crush, and it made her very uncomfortable.

No, that's not right. The dream always made her feel very comfortable, as if she belonged there.

And the man- - she knew it was him. It was unmistakable. It was the same man as the one that made her feel guilty.

Every time she slept, she had this dream; and, because of her darling, she had been sleeping a lot, so this dream was starting to feel like a broken record to her. Only, at times, she loses control of herself, she loses control of her character, and she starts acting unlike herself.

It was very strange.

A clank echoed through the walls.

Tanya sighs again as she closes her eyes, her mind not escaping the inquiry of the man that made her… feel.

* * *

Katherine awoke with a start, slowly opening her eyes to a dimly-lit room. She felt uncomfortable and stiff, but was too weak to care enough to move. Something was emitting low beeps to her left; she tries to turn her head, finding it difficult as something thick was strapped to her neck. Upon successfully turning her entire body, she sees a screen of diagnostics, menacingly flashing numbers and symbols at her. She figured that it was likely to be analyzing her. Feeling the strain on her muscles, she let her body fall back into its original position, then remains still until the pain subsides.

She heaves a deep sigh after what seems like an eternity. Positioning her hands to the side of her bedding, she clamps her fingers to the edge and holds it tightly. She pulls herself up slowly, wincing at the pain that shot through her as she felt immense aching starting to envelope one of her wrists. _Sprained_, she reminded herself.

Her eyes scan the room. Another bed not too far from hers catches her attention. She immediately recognizes the sleeping form, but strained to realize who was snoring away on the cushioned chair next to it. Her eyes squint; the lack of susceptible light was keeping his identity from her. It was only by process of elimination, and the lack of specific Ranger color palette on his clothing, that enabled her to figure out who it was.

_Good ol' Rocky._

Her eyes travel back to the occupant of the bed, taking notice at the massive bandages that covered his body, igniting memories of what transpired from the last battle. She remembered the happenings and the revelations. She remembered the beating that she took; whether it was because of her own lack of innovation to be fully involved in the fight, she wasn't sure. She still mostly blamed the result of her ordeal to her shock, and her incapability to have handled it better. She blamed her weakness.

She heaves a deep sigh, wincing again as she felt her chest hurt from the air intake. Suddenly, the pain that exerted from all wounds was exemplified, and Kat became aware of how hard she was trying to keep herself from lying back down on her bed. She wanted to look down on herself, to analyze the damage, but was too afraid to do so, remembering how badly the engagement with the Red Ranger had been on her.

Slowly, very slowly, she lowers her gaze to herself, stiffening before she even calculated herself. Her eyes scan through her bandages, then to the cement cast encasing her wrist, and then to the more open wounds, surprised that she didn't feel worse, despite the sickening feeling that the mere look of her abdomens were able to immediately instill into her.

She stared at her charcoaled skin, and remembered; she remembered the Red Ranger's blaster going off on her at point blank. She remembered the absence of hesitation as it happened. And, most distinctly, she remembered Tommy's words right before he pressed the trigger.

_You're nothing but a distraction._

She knew he wasn't being himself. She was sure that he hadn't meant it. But still, deep inside- - deep, deep inside, the words had stung her. Whether it was because she believed them, or that she sensed the slightest truth to them, she wasn't sure. But they had hit her where it mattered.

He had kept comparing her to Kimberly. He had mentioned only some of the things that she, herself, has had in her mind since she and Tommy had started dating exclusively; things that she had pushed aside for the purpose of maintaining her confidence and keeping face. But now, to have him actually voice out the very same thoughts that she had had for the past few months- - now, she wasn't even sure how to think anymore. Does she take these accusations seriously? Or does she keep calm like she has always done since her entrance to this team, exercise understanding, and wear the mask that she had successfully worn for so long?

Her friends were important to her. Tommy was even more important to her. And how they thought of her was extremely, extensively important to her. So she would like nothing more than to do the latter, as she always had in the past. But this time, this time specifically, it's perplexingly much harder to do just that.

Kat blinks to soothe the sting that was coming to her eyes. Her mind lingers to Tanya, who had served as her back-support since the first day she stepped into Angel Grove. Tanya was what she had been praying for since she was asked to join this group of strangers who mostly held a grudge against her for what he had done during her evil days. Although they tried their best to welcome her, she had still sensed it. She sensed the awkwardness, and the slight unwillingness to let her into the team entirely. She had hoped to befriend the only other girl member of this exclusive team, but, much to Kat's dismay, this girl held fandom to the previous Pink Ranger. When Tanya came, Kat felt a relief that she was not granted for months beforehand. Tanya had been so supportive of her, so understanding, and so compassionate. If she was there right now, she would've known what to say to Kat to diminish her troubled thoughts.

She needed Tanya, and she needed her now.

Unwilling to face the full extent of her reality just yet, Kat lowers herself back onto her bed, and closes her eyes. Sleep came easily thereafter.

* * *

The events of the battle still lingered in his mind; how she slowly established recognition towards her Ranger mates, and then eventually overcoming herself altogether. He remembered the way she looked at the Green Ranger when he fell down; that look of severe worry, of caring. He remembered the extreme reaction that the scene enabled in her. They kept replaying in his mind, making him more irritated and upset by each hour that passed.

Before he had taken her away, he was already suspicious that she would have an already existing relationship in her human life. But this- - he didn't expect this. Is the Green Ranger her partner? Is he the one that currently holds her affections? He had to know. To ease his mind, he just had to know.

The cell doors clunk as it slid open, revealing Kristol with two pirhanatrons in toll. Tommy took notice, but remained seated, with his forehead still cooling against the damp metal walls.

"How are your wounds, Ranger?" Kristol asks him calmly, splashing water with each step he took.

He receives no response.

"I must commend you for your talents. You did very well," he taunts. "The damage that you created, especially on the Pink Ranger—they were most impressive."

Tommy turns his head, glaring at him menacingly. But still, he maintained his silence through gritted teeth.

Annoyed, Kristol decides to get to the point as he steps closer. "The Green Ranger," he starts again. "What is he to my bride?"

"She's not your bride," Tommy spat, irritated at the notion.

Kristol ignores this and persists with sternness. "Answer the question."

Tommy glares at him even more before residing to pressing his forehead against the wall again. Irritated, Kristol waves a hand to his aids. Each pirhanatron took an arm and pulled a struggling Tommy to his feet, splashing water all around.

"No! Don't!" Tommy yelled as one pirhanatron twisted his wrist, igniting red light to flash and to form his Turbo morpher. He tries to wiggle away as another pirhanatron reached into his pocket for his key. "No!" he pleaded, but what little strength he had left was not enough to keep the creatures at bay. The key is pushed into his morpher and turned, activating his transformation. Tommy felt the surge of energy engulf his entire body, enabling the pain that he had felt for hours to subside as his red armor completed its formation. His body stood erect against his will as the pirhanatrons released his arms.

Satisfied, Kristol tries again. "Now," he began, gallantly stepping in front of the Red Turbo Ranger. "Let's try this again. The Green Ranger. What is he to my bride?"

Tommy pressed his lips firmly together, but the poison was too strong for his already weakened state. "He loves her," he unwillingly answers.

Kristol already suspected this much. "Does she know?"

Tommy pressed his lips again, but they start moving against his will. "Not entirely."

Kristol cocks his head and raises a brow. "Explain."

It takes a few seconds before Tommy answers him. "She feels it, but she's doubted it before."

_Interesting. _"Why would she doubt it?"

Tommy's eyes water as he bit his tongue hard, in an attempt to refuse him a reply. But, alas, the poison was still too strong for him. "He- -" he grunts, tasting the blood from his bite. "He's never told her he loves her."

Kristol smirks cockily. Then, he asks the question that he had been reluctant to address. "How about her? Does she love him?"

Finally too tired to fight, Tommy allows the control to use him entirely. He sighs as he replies, already regretting the action. "I think so."

"And has she said this aloud to him?"

"No."

Kristol smiles. "Then she doesn't love- - "

"She loves him," Tommy cuts in, surprisingly even himself. He wasn't sure if the answer was from him entirely or if it was the poison still trying to get the truth out of him.

Kristol waves his hand again. The two pirhanatrons pushes Tommy to his knees and held him there. A blow suddenly knocked him on the back of his neck, and he felt a sense of nausea as his powers weakened. Red light simmered throughout his body, and his armor disappears, leaving him with his regular shirt and slacks. The pirhanatrons pulls him up again as Kristol walks towards him, staring daggers into his head.

"He's an inferior being," he whispers so that only Tommy could hear him, and made sure to say every word with spite as he continued. "He will be destroyed soon enough. Now, whether or not she did love him does not matter. Because she is my bride now. She is mine now."

The water splashes again as Kristol turns and starts to walk away.

"You saw it, didn't you?" Tommy calls out to him as Kristol reached the door. The splashing stops as he abruptly halts his steps.

"You saw it," Tommy repeated. "You saw the way she looked at him."

Kristol's entire body stiffens.

"She remembers him. You already know that, don't you? Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembers him." Tommy grins as he continues, aware of the hits that his words granted. "That's why you came down here. You know that no matter how much of that crap you put in her, it'll never work. That's how much she loves him."

Kristol slightly turns his head, then retreats it. His legs splash through the filthy water as he storms out of the dungeon. A loud yell echoed from the cell as Tommy is thrown against the rusty walls.

* * *

_The dream starts again as soon as Adam closes his eyes. She is there, looking out onto the shiny lake, as if the previous dream had not occurred; as if she was part of a recording that had been rewound._

_She turns to him and grins widely. There was already something different about her, but Adam could not quite figure out what it was._

_The wind starts taunting her, right on cue. A few strands fall on her face, but, this time, she doesn't remove them. A few more strands falls on her cheek. When she showed no signs of fixing herself, Adam decides to do it for her. He reaches out, lightly touching her forehead with his fingers, and began to slide her hair aside, revealing the smooth, brown skin underneath. And it was then, while touching her hair, that Adam realized what was different about her._

_Her hair looked lighter. It wasn't too noticeable, but Adam knew enough of her to recognize the light streaks of auburn to her usual dark curls. _

_His drifts to her eyes, then searches her face, looking for anything else that might be different. But she seemed as she had always been, the way Adam had always known her._

_She turns towards the direction of the lake again, resuming her stare. A long moment passes as Adam waits for what was supposed to occur; he waited for the locks of her hair to bombard her, and her to frantically try to replace them onto her head. It did. The wind taunted her, teased her, and massive locks covered her face. But she calmly pushed them aside with one hand, all the while intently staring at the lake. _

_After a moment longer, the silence finally became too loud. Adam breaks it by reciting his line._

"_You wanna try working out again?" he asks her._

_She turns to him, smiles, and shakes her head. _

_Adam noticed the difference. So far, everything is very, very different from the other dreams. _

_But he decides to ignore it. He just wasn't in the mood to solve this mystery yet._

_Tanya maintains her silence again as she stares out at the lake, leaving Adam to speculate even more into the 'differences.' He stares at her, examining her. He tries to pinpoint any more changes in her, but her silence was keeping him from deducing any more. The wind blows harder, shifting her curls once more until more of her skin can be seen, at least from where he sat. His eyes travel to her ears, where she wore earrings that Kat had lent her (as the more fashionable kind were not popular in Africa, so she didn't have any), then to her neck, of which he remembers staring at once before while slow dancing during the Homecoming Dance. Then to her shoulders that he has massaged after a tiring game of baseball against Stone Canyon High, and then to her toned arm that had once been lacking of muscle before he had offered to train her._

_His eyes twitch as her arm moves, looking up to see her turning to him again. She realizes that he had been admiring her, and smiles._

"_You're so beautiful," he whispers, trying not to lose face. "I really wish I had told you that before."_

_She offers a tiny smile, urging him to continue._

"_I have so much to say to you, but every time I try, I wimp out," he continues, trying to aim his speech directly at her as if she were real. "You know I love you, don't you?"_

_The question was almost a whisper, and she had to strain her ears to hear it. Her response was very slight, but he saw it; she was shaking her head._

_Adam sighs. "Well, I do."_

_Tanya bites her lower lip, her eyes softening as she stares at him. She notices the nervousness through his actions. He was fidgeting. He kept closing and opening his fists, and his foot was shaking. Adam's eyes momentarily shifts away from hers, but he tries hard to meet her gaze again. _

_The wind assaulted, surprising her completely as her hair flew about wildly. She closes her eyes as she waited for the offense to subside. _

_Irritated at the newly formed blanket over her face, she starts working on freeing herself from the tangled locks. She purses her lips and frowns as she glared at each one that she removed. Adam couldn't help but chuckle at her expression._

_He shifts himself to sit in front of her; her hand retreating to her sides as he reaches out. He did as he always did on this part of the scene. He carefully removed the strands, one by one, intentionally touching her skin as much as he could while he did so._

"_I know this is all just a dream," he starts, replacing a few more strands behind her ears. "But, for some reason, you feel so real to me."_

_She closes her eyes as he picks at a strand that was stuck on her lashes._

"_Always having you here with me whenever I fall asleep has been keeping me from going nuts these past few weeks."_

_His fingers linger to a strand near her mouth. Tanya smiles as she felt the tip of his finger touch her upper lip. A dimple emerges, and he lightly traces it with his thumb._

"_I just," he continues, seeming to thinking aloud, "I just wish I knew why it's always the same dream."_

_He replaces another strand behind her ear and keep his hand there, playing with her untangled locks with his fingers as he let his other hand cup her face. His eyes focused on the difference in her hair again; the light auburn highlights seem to shine with the light reflecting from the lake. He has been so used to the way he's seen Tanya over the past year, that he has once expressed before how he preferred her natural hair color. But now, looking at her hair this way, in this light, he found himself not completely opposing it. He found himself becoming entranced by it instead._

_He blinks to wake himself from his trance, wanting to continue with his favorite part of the dream. But his eyes widen as he opens them, shocked at the sudden sight before him: the curly lock of hair that he had been holding is now a handful of very, very straight hair._

_Turning his head slowly, he stiffens as his gaze travel back to her face. His eyes widen even more when he sees that the Tanya that he had been so used to had been replaced by the new Tanya; the Tanya that he vaguely remembered from their first and, so far, only encounter. Her face was thinner, her eyes lacking of the enthusiasm that Tanya had always exemplified in, and the usual yellow insignia was absent from her clothing._

_She stares back at him, almost inquiringly. Her mouth was slightly open, but she made no indication to say anything. She was waiting for him. To do what, he wasn't sure. He opened his mouth, almost to say something to her, to say anything. To ask her… Ask her what? His mind was a blank. He closes his mouth again, but his eyes remained wide, almost scared._

_Her gaze softens, taking him by surprise. She stared at him as if- - as if she's responding to him._

_The corner of her lips twitch upwards, forming a tiny smile._

"_It's my favorite memory," she whispers, a shine emitting from her eyes as they begin to water. "It's the very first time I was able to hold your hand."_

_The shock has yet to subside, keeping Adam from thinking logically. He heard her, and he wanted to make sense of what she was saying, but his mind just couldn't seem to work under the circumstances. He meets her gaze and finds that she, herself, is searching him as well. Her eyes were anxious. She wanted something from him. She probably wanted him to say something. But he didn't know what to say._

_She maintains her gaze as her hands reach up, enclosing his shaking hands in hers, and pulling them down onto her lap. She squeezes them, not wavering until the shaking stops. This surprises Adam too._

_She smiles at him again before her eyes lower to break their stare. Her shoulders slump, seeming… defeated? When she looks up at him again, a single tear rolls down to her chin, tracing a thin, wet line on her cheek. She breathes deeply before she continues._

"_Thanks."_


	9. Questions, An Incomplete Answer

Author's Note: Hi! How is it so far? Getting interesting? Getting boring? Sorry for the lack of action from the last chapter. I wanted to have some down time since the chapter before that was so violent. For this one, I really wanted to move things along so there won't be too much 'contemplating' within the characters.

Enjoy!

**Truths of the Hearts**

**Questions, An Incomplete Answer, and the First Step of the Plan**

**By genielou**

"_Ernie's Juice Bar is now just barely starting to recover from the damages of last week's events. But I must say, although these physical damages will be fixed and turned back to normal in a few weeks' time, the emotional impact of the Red Ranger's attack will always be embedded into the hearts of the Angel Grove citizens…"_

Alpha shook his head as he watched the screen, making sure to pay equal attention to his application of medication on his patient. The television news has been all over the attack in Ernie's Juice Bar since it had happened, and the issue was yet to die down. Now, another expose is being done on it, showing various Juice Bar employees and other hired construction workers fixing the building that the Red Turbo Ranger had almost completely destroyed.

"_It was just too good to be true, you know? I've always known that the Power Rangers were gonna turn bad someday, but nobody believed me…"_

Katherine glared at the new occupant of the screen. Suddenly, the girl is pushed aside by a blonde in the same cheerleader outfit, quickly grabbing hold of the reporter's attention.

"_Shut up, Veronica," _she hissed to someone on the side of the screen that was not visible. She turns to the reporter and grins her signature preppy smile. _"Hi, please don't mistake her opinions to represent the whole cheerleader squad of Angel Grove High. What she said reflects her own individual take…"_

"_And your name?"_

Her grin widens. _"It's Ashley. Ashley Hammond." _She tries to quickly smooth her hair down. "_You know, this whole thing, most of us believe that there's a good reason for it. I mean, it's the Power Rangers, you know? They've protected us for sooo long now…"_

Alpha carefully removes a bandage from Kat's neck. She barely notices as her eyes focuses in admiration at their defendant.

"_We have to believe in them. It's the least we could do…"_

"Ow!"

"Stop being a girl."

"Stop ripping them so fast."

"It wasn't that bad."

"Ah!"

Rocky pulled another strip of bandage from Adam's back; the reply that came thereafter was the same. All three rangers, plus the respected side-players of their team, were all present in the Power Chamber, busy in their own little stations. Rocky was busy removing Adam's bandages, Alpha was tending to Katherine's fast healing wounds, and Justin typed away on a console away from the others as Zordon directed instructions down to him.

"So you think she's trying to communicate with you through your dream?"

"Yeah, I've thought about it, and I really don't think it's a coinciden-aah!"

"Sorry," Rocky said after pulling a bandage too fast. "I don't know, man. I wanna believe you but that's really out there."

Kat pointed a remote at the screen and turned it off.

Adam shifted his waist as Rocky starts working on lower back. "We're Power Rangers," he answered. "The term 'out there' is a big stretch for all of us."

"Yeah, I know. But we're talking about communication through the mind here. Even _we're_ not that special."

Rocky stood up from his seat and walks toward a table, picking up a can of cotton balls before walking back. Adam looks over to Kat for support.

"Kat," Adam called out to her. She turned to him as Alpha smothers cream onto her arm. "What do you think?" he asked her.

Kat wrinkled her nose at him. "I agree with Rocky, Adam," she answered. "Maybe these dreams are just a reaction to your stress? I dreamt of past memories before when I'm under pressure. They're usually good memories too."

Adam winced as he heaves a sigh. Rocky starts to work on his calves. "You guys," he started. "It's the same dream over and over again, and each time is different."

Kat stared at him while Alpha wrapped more gauze onto her arm, sympathy in her expression.

Adam answered her stare. "It's not my memory, Kat," he said. "She said that it's her favorite memory. My favorite memory is different from that."

Rocky rearranges himself on his seat, heavily concentrated on his task as he listens to his friend's plea. "So," he started again, curiosity steaming from Adam's last statement. "If that's not your favorite memory, then what is?" he asked with an eyebrow raised. Adam throws a cotton ball at him.

Adam returned to pleading his case. "Kat," he tried again, "does Tanya think about me at night?"

Kat's eyes widened at the question, and the surprise is reciprocated throughout the room. Alpha abruptly stops wrapping gauze, the typing noise that came from across the room quickly stopped as both Justin and Zordon turned their way, and Rocky looked up from his mending as well, both shocked and proud of Adam's boldness.

"Adam, what does that have to do with anything?" Kat asked.

"Well," Adam replied. "When I was a kid, my cousin used to tell me that if you think about a person hard enough before you go to sleep, you'll be able to have a dream with that person."

Rocky nodded his head. "I've heard that one before," he agreed as he moved onto a different part of Adam's leg. "I've never really tried it though."

"I've never tried it either, but who knows if it can actually happen." Adam turned towards Kat again. "So what do you think? Do you think Tanya thinks about me at night?"

"Adam," Kat started. "I really don't know if I'm the right person to answer tha- -"

"Don't- - that's not an answer," he interrupted her, starting to feel frustrated that his friends did not share his belief. "I'll break the ice here then, okay? If you're concerned about keeping Tanya's secrets private, then how about I tell you my secrets so that we'll be even?"

Kat stared at him, still unsure. She heard the desperation in his voice and she wanted to try to relieve him, but the notion that he was presenting was just too outrageous for her. That, and she just didn't want to represent Tanya's most important secret to the one person that mattered.

"Katherine," Adam started again, softening his voice as he looked at her. The usage of her real name had had the proper effect; the room maintained its silence. "Ever since Tanya came here, I've thought a lot about her before I went to sleep."

Not wanting the medicine on the cotton ball to dry, Rocky's hands seemed to move on its own as he listened, careful not to disrupt Adam's speech. He was listening very intently. Although these were things that he had already known, he still wanted to be fully present as Adam reveals himself.

"It wasn't like I'd meant to, I just did it," Adam continued, his voice softening even more as he propped himself up by the elbows to face Kat. The lights on Alpha's head start flashing, indicating a vague expression that the robot was emitting. "And, to be absolutely honest, I've thought about her ever night since this whole thing started. I didn't mean to. I just did it."

Justin entire seat had now been adjusted to face Adam. The thirteen-year-old did not know much in the field of teenage romance, but he had had an idea of how complicated it was just by observing his friends. This declaration was something that Rocky had once mentioned to be way overdue. It was just unexpected that it would happen while the latter player of the romantic partnership was not present to hear it.

"Tell me, Kat," Adam directs the question to her solely. "Tell me, does Tanya think about me at night?"

Kat's eyes softened. _Tanya is gonna kill me when she finds out I told_. "I guess," she started, "I guess I would be surprised if she didn't."

The answer sounded like a compliment, and Adam couldn't help but smile. He then shifts his plea towards Zordon, his eyes asking for support.

"The notion is most improbably, Adam, seeing as human beings are incapable of such extraterrestrial capabilities," Zordon offered. "But, it is not completely impossible."

Adam heaves a sigh of relief, wincing when Rocky ripped a bandage too fast again.

"Sorry. I meant to do that."

Adam rolled his eyes. Rocky concentrates on another piece of bandage.

"So," he starts, trying to sound nonchalant. "What is your favorite memory of her again?"

His question was answered by another cotton ball to the head, thrown by the mischievous red robot.

((((( )))))

…thoomp…

"Hehe, do it again."

… thoomp…

"I told ya, didn't I? He doesn't even flinch."

"Okay, okay, my turn."

… thoomp…

"Hehe."

"One more time."

… thoomp…

"What the hell are you two doing?" Divatox yelled. Elgar and Rygog jumped up immediately to face her.

"Hey, Auntie D," Elgar greeted. "Uh, what's up?"

"What are you two doing?" she sneered. She pushed aside and peered down through the grates, to the dungeon where they had been throwing pebbles. She squint her eyes at Tommy sitting very still on a bench and leaning against the wall. "What's wrong with him?" she asked, making a face.

"I dunno, Auntie," Elgar appears at her side holding a metal pole.

Rygog stood to her other side. "He has remained unmoving for quite some time now, your highness."

Elgar turns to Rygog. "Wanna start poking him now?"

"Porto!" Divatox screamed.

The round alien hobbled over at her request, peering down at the dungeon just as she did.

"What's happening to him?"

"I will go check, my queen."

Porto hobbles away, and the three watches as he reappears in the dungeon with three pirhanatrons in tow. He held a device against Tommy that beeped as he pushed buttons on it. Tommy heaves a deep sigh but remained still, as if they weren't in the room at all. Finally, Port retreats out of the dungeon and reappears again by Divatox's side.

"My queen," he answered. "He's - - uh, well, he's very, very weak."

"How weak?"

"Well, ma'am," he stammered. "He's, for lack of a better word, dying."

"Dying, huh?" Divatox repeated.

"But, we've been feeding him, Auntie," Elgar offered, still holding the pole. "I swear we've been giving him food."

"Did he actually eat the food you've been giving him?" Divatox asked.

Elgar scratched his head, thinking. Divatox merely rolled her eyes and turned to Rygog.

"Prepare a school of pirhanatrons to be transported," she ordered. "And send some down there. Get him ready."

"But, my queen," Porto protested as Divatox walked away, hobbling a few steps behind him. "He won't be able to handle a battle. If you send him out there, it'll be his last."

"Yes, well, that's the point, Porto," Divatox said, her voice surprisingly not as demanding towards the nerdy alien as she is to the other two. "Now, make yourself useful and get that other Power Ranger. It's about time she made herself useful."

"And the Prince, Madame?"

"Where is he?"

"He has taken a momentary leave to collect more of his special potion."

"Then let him be," she sneered. "I'll control the outcome of the battle this time. It's been way overdue."

Divatox walked away, her cape swinging behind her.

((((( )))))

Kat switched channels again, looking for any news covering the Power Rangers' dispute with each other.

"_Today, in Oprah, we have psychologist Ray Hart with us to discuss the possible break-up of the Power Rangers- - "_

"_Channel five news will cover the government's decision as to whether or not military response will be executed against the Red Ranger's actions last - -"_

"_Has the Red Ranger finally given into the dark side of the force? Later tonight for Entertainment Weekly - -"_

Rocky turned from his seat on the console, shifting his attention towards the Pink Ranger. He watched her change the screen to other channels.

"_Larry King here, now let's talk about last week's - -"_

"_We knew this was going to happen eventually, right? We can't expect them to protect us forever without wanting anything back - -"_

"_People are so full of it. They've saved us so many times, and the minute something goes wrong, we doubt them?"_

Kat's finger suddenly stopped from pressing the remote button.

"_But, Regis, we're talking about the Power Rangers here. Last week was only with one of them going berserk. Think of the damage that could be done if all of them were in on it."_

Rocky stood from his seat and walked to her side as the figure on the screen shook his head.

"_Look, all I know is that they've done more to us than the government ever has, and to no cost too! The least we could all do is have faith in them. We have to believe that this will all be fixed and it'll all blow over! If we don't, then we're just as bad as those ugly things that keep appearing around the state…"_

The corner of Rocky's lips curled up to a smirk. "That's a famous line nowadays, don't you think?"

Kat's eyebrows rose inquisitively.

"You know," he continued. "_'It's the least we could do'_?"

Her head nods in understanding, then her eyes shifts towards the television again; her hand resuming its control on the remote. Rocky leans against her bed.

"Hey," he nudged her shoulder. "Talk to me."

Kat's eyes cast down before looking up at him with a smile. Rocky was quick to notice.

"I'm fine, Rocky," she told him. "Really, I'm okay."

"Kat," he started. "Last week. He wasn't himself - -"

"I know that." She cut in. "I know that."

"But?"

"But what?"

Rocky takes her hand. "It still hit you hard, didn't it?"

Kat sighed, her eyes avoiding his. "Please don't try to make me feel better about it, Rocky," she said. "I'm gonna need to stay upset if we ever want to get him back."

Now, it was Rocky's turn to raise his eyebrows. "I don't understand."

Kat opened her mouth to elaborate but was interrupted. "Hey, guys, I think it's ready," she heard Justin call out. Kat pushed herself off of the bed with a little help from Rocky, and started walking towards Justin's station.

They surrounded the table that Justin and Alpha stood by, each instinctively taking a crystal orb from the pile that Justin was carefully completing and already examining the rainbow-colored mist that swam inside each one.

"So this is it, huh?" Adam said. "And you're sure this will work, Justin?"

"Not just sure. Very sure," Justin answered. "Billy approved the calculations. And if he approves it, then it's as good as gold!"

"Wow," Rocky wondered aloud. "I wish I could try it out."

"I'm sorry, but can you explain to me again how this works?" Kat asked, the mist reflecting off of her blue-green eyes as she examined her orb closer to her face.

"It's very simple," he assured, picking up an orb from the table and holding it out to the rest of the team. "Each orb contains a certain amount of power surge. One orb would be enough to energize us so that we could keep fighting even after we've taken a bunch of hits."

Rocky's eyebrows rose. "So, it's like an espresso shot?"

"Exactly," the young genius exclaimed. "I got the idea from the last time we fought Tommy. Obviously, he's stronger and faster than us, and, after watching the videos, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be able to keep up with him. Well, you know, unless we wanted to kill him."

Kat winced at his words.

"So," he continued. "This is the next best thing that we can use without actually trying to do that. When we feel ourselves getting too weak to fight, we say 'Power Up,' and an orb will automatically transport into our hands. Crush it, and the energy surge will travel through our hands onto the rest of our suit," he said this as he tried his best to demonstrate, running his fingers along his arm and onto his chest and stomach. "And bam! We'll suddenly have the energy to keep going!"

Adam smiled. "Wow, Justin," he complimented. "This is incredible."

Justin blushed.

"How many are there?" Kat asked.

"Twenty."

"Twenty?" she exclaimed.

"Well," he started. "I wasn't sure how many we would need, so I decided to just make as many as I could. Who knows how many battles we'll have to use this for?"

The others nodded in understanding.

"But," Justin chimed again. "Keep in mind that the energy surges can be lethal to us too. Too many can mess with our body system, so when we do use it, try to stay within one or two orbs."

"One or two," Adam continued. "Do you think that'll be enough?"

Justin frowned. "Well, I'm not sure. But we have to try. Otherwise, just be ready to get very, very sick afterwards."

Rocky replaced his orb back onto the table. "So, Justin," he started. "You're younger, so does that mean that you'll be restricted to only one orb?"

Justin nodded. Adam shook his head, dejectedly, "Oh, great."

"Hey, it's better than nothing," Rocky said. "So now we just have to wait for Tommy to show himself, right?"

"Or Tanya," Kat's voice chimed almost as a whisper. The others looked at her, then turned to where she was looking at very intently. On the screen, where the channel had been left on a live news feed located right on the entrance of Angel Grove High, were a hoard of students looking intently at the camera, all trying to get in the shot.

"What?" Justin asked. "What is it?"

"Tanya," Adam walked closer to the screen, his eyes quickly closing in on what Kat had been staring at. His eyes traveled from the steps that led up to the Angel Grove High double door entrance, then to the entrance itself where a young woman with long auburn hair wearing a short black dress stood. She was leaning against the door post with her arms crossed, a knowing smile on her face as she stared intently at the camera.

"Oh no," the words came out of Rocky's mouth slowly. All occupants of the Chamber had now walked closer to the screen.

"What is she doing?" Kat asked, her eyes almost unblinking. The woman on the screen was making a beckoning gesture.

Rocky shook his head slowly. "This can't be good."

"Alpha, can you zoom in on her?"

"Ai-yi-yi! Right away, Adam."

The robot waddled away. Soon after, the view on the screen suddenly zoomed in on her as she continued her gesture. Her lips start to move.

"Is there a way to hear what she's saying?" Kat asked as she tried to read her lips.

Alpha pushed more buttons on the console and the audio was enabled. The four heard a whisper from the speakers of the screen.

"_Come out and play.."_

She said it a few more times, almost as if to taunt them.

"She knows we're watching," Justin said, fear evident in his voice.

"Okay," Adam said, his voice suddenly louder. "Now's our chance. Rocky. Did you make the call?"

Rocky nodded. "Yeah, I called her last night. She's supposed to come sometime today."

"Can you call her again and see if she can come now?"

Rocky nodded and took out his cellphone, quickly dialing and walking off to the side.

"Will you guys be okay?" Justin asked, turning to Kat and Adam. "You're not completely healed yet…"

Kat patted his shoulder, smiling at him. "We'll make do somehow."

"Alright, she's on her way," Rocky interrupted.

All eyes turned to the screen again. Tanya cocks her head to the side, her eyes teasing and seductive as her giggled echoed through the speakers. Suddenly, a dark mist appeared next to her, disappeared to be replaced by what seemed to be a Power Ranger in gray color.

"Is that- -"

"What's wrong his color?" Justin interrupted Rocky. The figure placed a hand on Tanya's shoulder and nodded at her.

"Why isn't he red, Zordon?" Adam asked, finally able to take his eyes off of the screen.

Zordon looked down on him. "I am not sure, Adam," he told him. "My speculations are that he is weakened severely and is in danger to himself as he is to others."

"So this is what Divatox intended," Rocky wondered aloud. "This is it."

"The last battle," Kat whispered, her words not reaching anyone's ears. Her hands start to shake at the thought.

Adam turned towards the others. "Alright, everyone," he started. "We already have a plan. Now, everyone stick to it, okay?"

An intense yellow light flashed through the Chamber before they could answer. Once the light subsided, a short girl with long, dark braids appeared. She smiled wide at her audience and was met by a hug from the former Blue Ranger.

"Sorry to make you hurry, Aisha," Rocky told her. "It was just an emergency."

She responded with a shake of the head. "Don't worry about it, Rocky," she chimed. "You should have called me in as soon as this whole thing started."

Her head turns to Adam and Kat, both greeting her with a mere nod. She understood the lack of a warm greeting from their current state of being, seeing as both was still covered from head to toe with various bandages. She instead focused her eyes on the screen.

"So are we going to do this?"

Justin walked over to her and handed her the morpher key that belonged to Tanya. "Here," he said. "You're going to need it."

She nods in response.

Adam turns his attention to Kat. "Kat," he started. "Are you sure you're going to be able to do this?"

Kat's eyes traveled back to the screen, her eyes focusing to who should have been the Red Turbo Ranger. "Yes," she answered. "Let's do this while I'm still angry."

Adam frowned at her words, but chose not to delegate. He instead turned to the others. "Alright, guys," he said loudly. "Rocky and Aisha, you know what to do. Justin and Kat, we concentrate on Tommy."

The faint sounds of screams suddenly emanated from the screen. Everyone faced the screen; Aisha in particular looked on with wide eyes, almost unbelieving what she was seeing. The Red Ranger had started his attack on the civilians.

Adam sighs deeply. "Let's do this." He holds out his key in time with the other two Rangers. "Shift into Turbo!"


	10. Kat Loses It

A/N: Hello all! Whew! I'm starting to think that this story won't have an ending. I know the past few chapters were a bit slow, but I'm going to try to get things picked up now. I think it's about time that this story gets a little bit of a progression. We can't always have bad endings for every chapter, right? I'll try to get things moving faster from here on out. Okay, let's do this! Yeah!

**Truths of the Hearts**

**Kat Loses It**

**By genielou**

_Adam ran his fingers through her long, auburn hair, enjoying the sense of new and unfamiliarity it offered him._

"_I gotta admit, Tanya," he told her. "Despite the whole evil thing, I really don't mind the hair at all."_

_Tanya blushed as she giggled. She lifts a hand to her hair, halting his teasing. Adam retreats his hand and casually replaces it on the grass to lean on._

"_They don't believe me, you know," he said. "They think I'm just going nuts."_

_She stared at him, listening intently._

"_I'm not nuts, am I?" he looked at her. "It's really you, right."_

_Tanya nods her head, smiling. She shifts herself to face him, lifting a hand to touch his cheek. She keeps it there for a long moment, stroking his skin with her thumb. Adam closed his eyes, basking in the glory that her touch provided. _

_He opened his eyes to her soft gaze. "Tanya," he whispered._

_She offered him another warm smile. Slowly, very slowly, she inched her face closer to his. He closed his eyes again, and waited._

_A moment passed for too long. He opened his eyes to see a frown._

"_What's wrong?" Adam asked._

_She smiled again, but this time, it was a sad smile. _

"_Adam," she whispered, a tone of regret almost evident in her voice. "Get up."_

_Adam frowned at her, confused._

"_Adam," she said again, more sternly this time. "You have to get up."_

_He placed his hands over hers, squeezing them. "Tanya," he started. "What are you- -"_

"Adam, get up!"

Adam awoke with a start. Aisha shook him some more before letting go. He lifted a hand to try to rub a building headache, but was surprised when his hand touched something hard. He looked at both hands and realized that he was in his morphed form upon seeing his gloves.

"What happened?" he groaned, taking Rocky's extended hand and letting himself be pulled to his feet.

"You took a hard hit the very second we got here," Rocky told him, clapping a hand on his shoulder and pointing a finger to his chest.

Adam looked down and, sure enough, there was a big, burnt spot right in the middle of his chest. Adam cursed under his breath as he shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, buddy," Rocky assured him. "You weren't gone for too long."

Adam glanced to where the Kat and Justin fought in their own morphed forms. The fight was well on its way and they weren't holding up very well.

"Alright," Adam said. "I gotta get in there. You sure you guys will be okay?"

Rocky nodded. "Hey, we were Rangers too, remember?" he smiled. "Just leave it to us."

Adam nodded and ran away. Rocky and Aisha saw the newly developed orb appear on Adam's hand as he yelled the proper call. He crushed it in his hand while running. They shielded their eyes as an intense flash of green radiated from his hand, the glow traveling throughout his entire body. His posture changed, making his stance broader. They watched as he tackled the Red Turbo Ranger to the ground.

A few moments longer and they both set off, ready to do what they had come to do.

(((((( ))))))

A large hand shook Tanya's shoulder, causing her to snap out of her daze. She blinked her eyes a few times, confused and unsure of where she was.

"Hey, little girl," Elgar asked, his massive grin still plastered on his face despite the genuine concern that his voice indicated. "You sure you're alright? You don't look so good."

Tanya closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to get rid of the sudden heavy feeling that burdened her chest. "I'm fine," she told him, shrugging his hand off. "Thank you."

"Oh, well, okay," Elgar said, shrugging his own shoulders and walking off towards the battle. "Catch ya on the flip side then."

Tanya watched him as he took the Blue Turbo Ranger by the arm and flung him to the ground. She turned towards the school entry way and stalked off.

She lightly ran her fingers on the cool metal of the hallway lockers. She was confused. One minute, she was watching the Red Ranger attack his fellow Power Rangers as they teleported in; the next, she was trapped in a day dream. Her guess was that her sickly state is what had caused it, as per Kristol's usual explanation. _That_ wasn't a surprise at all. The surprise was that she was able to enter into the same dream that she had had for the past month or so. And it bothered her that while in that dream, she suddenly felt content. She somehow found herself unwilling to leave. That is, until her dream-self had told her counterpart to leave before her. The regret of the words that escaped through her dream-self's lips not only reflected that particular state of mind, but also her own. She didn't want to tell him to leave. She wanted him to stay there with her.

Tanya stopped walking. There was a presence somewhere near her, she could feel it. Her muscles tensed as she stood very still, waiting.

She yelped as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, hoisted her up into the air and threw her across the hallway. She landed with a loud thud onto the chilly, polished floor of Angel Grove High.

((((( )))))

The Pink Turbo Ranger dodged a kick to the head but met a punch to the shoulder. She was pushed back and was about to meet another hit when a green arm blocked it. She watched as the Green Ranger took over, pushing the Red Ranger as far away from her as possible.

She glanced down at the bow that she still held, taking notice of the wires that stuck out of it. The pain that radiated from her arm felt as if it had suffered the same faith. The battle had not even been going on for too long and she was already being beaten. She could feel her previous injuries starting to arise. It wouldn't have been a surprise if her cuts had already opened themselves again.

"Power up," she whispered.

A crystal orb appeared in her other hand, a rainbow mist encircling its inside. She closed her fingers around it and squeezed as hard as she could. The orb cracked only slightly, but it was enough to activate the power boost that it held within. The rainbow inside of it turned pink and flashed intensely, then traveled onto her arm and throughout her entire body. She felt the surge take over, momentarily healing her wounds, strengthening her suit, and even mending her bow. She stood up, waving her arms in disbelief.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, suddenly feeling stronger and limber. "Thank you, Justin."

She ran head on towards the direction that the Green Ranger and the Red Ranger had taken, the winner of that battle becoming clearer and clearer as she approached closer.

((((( )))))

Tanya pushed herself up, glaring at her assailant. She growled as two figures revealed themselves.

"Hey, girlfriend," Aisha said with a mocking smile, the yellow signature still evident in her clothing. "Long time no see."

"Stand down, Tanya," Rocky said sternly, and very uncharacteristically. "We don't want to hurt you."

Tanya chuckled. "Hurt me?" she asked, baring her teeth as she stared daggers at them. "You should worry about yourselves."

Aisha arched her back and raised her arms, with fists at the ready in front of her. "I've been hearing about what's been going on, girl," she said, her own stare intensifying with each word. "I think it's time for some tough loving."

Tanya smiled, her own body changing into a ready stance. "Bring it on."

((((( )))))

"Power- - wargh!"

The Red Ranger took hold of the Green Ranger's neck and quickly tightened his grip. "That's enough of that," he sneered at him, his fingers shifting and ready to snap his neck sideways.

A burst of pink light suddenly attacked his back, causing sparks to fly from his gray suit and him to let go of the Green Ranger. He turned around and scowled at the Pink Ranger standing not too far away and still standing at the ready.

"I thought I took care of you already!" he spat as he started walking towards her, each step seem to waver but he kept going. The Pink Ranger noticed this and spoke into her helmet.

"Alpha," she called out. "What's his status?"

"A few more hits and he should be down, Kat," the robot said through her helmet. "Ai-yi-yi! Keep going, Katherine! You're almost there."

The Pink Ranger nodded her head in determination and lifted her bow again. She took a step back with each step forward that the Red Ranger took. The Red Ranger realized this and stopped walking.

"Are you trying to annoy me?" he scoffed, his head cocking to the side.

The Pink Ranger held her bow higher, her aim still at the Red Ranger. Her breathing quickened as she tried to calm herself. Anger was obvious in the Red Ranger's tone and she knew very well what would come after that. She squeezed her hold on the bow tighter to keep herself from shaking.

The Red Ranger took a step forward, causing the Pink Ranger to step back. He stopped again.

"We've done this dance before, haven't we?" he said, his voice full of mocking. "I remember it like it was just yesterday. Are you wearing the same brand today?"

The Pink Ranger's nose flared, surprising even herself. Their last battle suddenly became very fresh in her mind.

"I have my own favorite brand, you know," he continued, taking a step forward and causing the same reaction in return. "It's the expensive kind. I used to buy it for someone. You know who that someone is, don't you?"

He started walking, each step earning a step backwards from her. Her foot lands on uneven ground and she felt herself lose balance. She recovered immediately and maintained her aim.

"Come on, Kat, stop doing that," he said, smiling. "Just come at me. You know you want to prove yourself. You've always wanted to. You're always doing things that she used to do, trying to be just like her."

She curved her direction, taking a step sideways. He did the same, turning their movement circularly.

"I can give you pointers if you want," he said, maintaining his pace. "Like when you kiss. She used to suck on my lower lip. You might want to do that too."

Her nose flared again, but this time, she wasn't shocked. The previous offense that she felt from their last battle had subsided, and in its place was an anger that had been hiding for years. She felt heat rise onto her face.

"She's a bit shorter too, and that worked out really well for me," he started walking forward again. "You know, makes it easier to be on top of her."

The Pink Ranger's chest heaved, and her frown deepened. Different emotions were pooling around her. She suddenly remembered her own contemplation from nights ago, and remembered how unfair it was that she was expected to be so calm and assured. Her mind has been too vulnerable lately to think rationally now. She was on the edge. Any more assaults and she was sure that she would succumb to a similar action that Rita had subjected her to. And although this time would be through her own sole power, she was not quite sure if she was willing to stop herself from crossing that line. This time, she was positive that she would be okay with it.

Her hold on her bow shook as she tried to control her emotions.

"Maybe you should cut off your feet to reduce your height," the Red Ranger spat. "That way, you wouldn't be such a fuckin' broad."

Her anger took control as her fingers worked her bow, firing multiple shot of pink light towards the Red Ranger. He rolled to the side to avoid them, recovering quickly and crying out in irritation as he lunged towards her. She ran backwards again, maintaining her distance from him and firing even more pink light.

A light hit the Red Ranger's stomach. His body arched forward and he fell to the ground. He immediately pushed himself up, taking out his Turbo laser and aiming it at her. His finger was about to pull the trigger when he felt a massive power surge assault his back, pushing him forward and onto the ground.

The Green Ranger pulled the handle of his canon back, ready to fire again. But the Red Ranger was too quick and fired tiny spurts of red light his way, hitting him on the side of his helmet. The Green Ranger fell, shaking his head as he tried to recover. The Red Ranger aimed again but a shower of pink light surrounded him again, hitting every part of his body.

He screamed, more out of irritation than of pain.

"Dammit!" he yelled out. He turned towards her as her attacks halted. "You bitch!"

Red light flashed, and his sword appeared in his hand. He leaped up to avoid another shower of pink light, his own anger overpowering his weakened state, and threw his sword at her. The sword makes contact with her left thigh and stabbed through her suit. She screamed in pain as a good amount of the sword pierced through her. The Green Ranger yelled her name as he was tackled down by a group of pirhanatrons.

With another flash of red, the Red Ranger appeared next to her, grabbing her by the arms. He lifted her up and slammed her back down onto the ground. Her head hit the surface hard. She felt a burst of pain from the back of her head as her helmet cracked. She clenched her teeth to keep herself from screaming.

"NO! Kat!" the Blue Turbo Ranger called out as he dodged Elgar's sword. He made a dash for their direction, running as fast as he could. His feet skidded as Elgar's tongue suddenly wrapped around his neck and pulled him backwards.

The Red Ranger lowered himself, a hand on her shoulder and the other on his sword. He pushed her down as he twisted the sword's handle. She screamed louder than she had ever screamed before. Blood slowly seeped out of the hole on her suit.

"Yeah, you like that, baby?" the Red Ranger taunted, twisting the sword again and slowly pressing it deeper into her thigh. Both of her hands quickly grabbed the wrist that held her down, her fingers trying to dig through his glove. Her scream was bloodcurdling. Hot tears blurred her vision as she fought to stay conscious.

"You're a poser," he spat, his helmet now only a few inches from hers. "You will never be her. When are you going to get that through your thick head!"

She shifted her head to the side, trying to avoid looking at him. She felt her head shake uncontrollably as she bit her lip to keep herself from screaming even more.

"You," he whispered, his helmet almost touching hers. Each word came out very, very slowly, "Will. _Never_. Be. As good. As her."

The Pink Ranger closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and suddenly lifted her good knee up as quickly as she could. Her knee hit its mark and the Red Ranger fell to the side, groaning loudly with his arms between his legs as he curled his body to a fetal position.

The Pink Ranger took advantage of her victory and scurried away from him. She grabbed hold of the sword still embedded into her thigh with both hands, took another deep breath, and yanked it out. Her tears welled up again but she suppressed herself.

"POWER UP!" she screamed outloud, all of her emotions emanating through her voice. Her yell echoed and caused even the pirhanatrons to momentarily glance her way.

An orb appeared in her hand again. Not having enough strength to crush it with her hand, she slammed it down onto the concrete ground. The pink mist hung in the air momentarily, then shot through her body. She felt the surge of power take over, enabling her to ignore her injuries. Taking a deep breath again, she stood up with both her bow and the sword in her hands.

The Red Ranger moaned, still shaking from the unexpected attack to his groin, and even more upset that his Ranger suit was not able to protect the most vulnerable part of his body. The Pink Ranger walked over to him, her leg limping slightly. She stood over him.

The Red Ranger propped an elbow on the ground and tried to stand up. She merely kicked it, causing him to drop back down. He growled at her.

"You're right," she started, her voice shaking. "Everything you said was right."

He glared up at her with his fists clenched.

The Pink Ranger held up her bow at the ready, and arranged the sword against the string. Alpha was yelling through her helmet, but somehow his yells just seemed like background noise to her.

"I know I'll never be as good as her," she continued, her voice now a bit calmer.

She pulled the string back and aimed at his chest.

"But that's only because I'm better than her."

Her fingers relaxed, letting go of the string. Her aim didn't waver.


	11. Catfight!

A/N: So how was it? Intense, right? I love it when Power Rangers try to kill each other in stories! And I must say, thank you fanfiction . net for putting up the traffic option in the profiles. If it weren't for that, I probably wouldn't be writing so much. Knowing how many hits the story gets really does make a difference on my ego. I am now currently contesting this story with the Ironic Rise story, to see which one people read more. So far, it's actually a tie! Weird, right? And now, Enjoy!

**Truths of the Hearts**

**Catfight!**

**By genielou**

The Pink Turbo Ranger relaxed her fingers and let the string of her bow go. The sword pierced through the Red Ranger's chest. Screams and yells rang in her ears as she stared at him with wide eyes, unbelieving of what she had done.

The Red Ranger heaved a sigh as the sword flashed a red light and disappeared, leaving a black hole where it had pierced through his suit. A faint red glow surrounded his body, misting over every inch of him. It faded away, taking his red armor with it, and leaving him with the very same clothes that he had had on when he first disappeared over a month ago. They were tattered and dirty. She saw how thin his frame had gotten. She saw the lack of muscles his usually bulky figure displayed. She saw the cuts, the bruises, and all of the evidences that marked hard abuse on his face, arms, and legs. For the first time in a very long time, she realized how much he had been suffering; how much more than she could have ever imagined.

He breathes another sigh before letting his chest fall down one last time. His head slowly hung back onto the ground and his arms fell to his sides.

A desire to run away filled her, but she found herself stuck to the current position she was in: staring down, not completely digesting what she had done. The flare of her nostrils had gone away, replaced by a stinging that accompanied the watering of her eyes.

A flash of white suddenly engulfed the two former comrades. It disappeared just as fast as it had appeared, taking them with it.

**(((((( ))))))**

Tanya cried outloud, teeth bared as she pushed the former yellow ranger against the lockers. Aisha screamed as a locker handle hit her back. She swung a fist onto Tanya's stomach, and again upwards to her chin. Tanya faltered backwards. Aisha lunged at her again, but Tanya caught her by the shoulders and threw her against the lockers again, this time head first. Rocky tackled her down as Aisha placed a hand to her head, a sharp pain developing just above her forehead.

"Urgh!" she frowned upon seeing the blood on her fingertips. "Where did she learn to fight like that?"

"Adam!" Rocky yelled out, ducking in time to avoid another punch.

"Figures," Aisha shook her head before running head on towards the battle again. Her fist flew forward only to be dodged.

Rocky tries to land a hit but Tanya ducks and slams both fists into his chest, pushing him backwards into the ground. Aisha tried her hand at offending again, but Tanya blocked every one of her punches and started throwing her own, each landing on Aisha's stomach and sides. Aisha's stance wavers for a moment. Tanya takes advantage of this, opening both palms and clapping them hard onto Aisha's chest. She flies backwards and lands hard on the floor next to Rocky, heaving as she clutched her midsection. She looked at Rocky incredulously.

Rocky gave her an apologetic look as he shrugged his shoulders. "I gave her boxing lessons a few months ago."

Aisha rolled her eyes before pushing herself off the ground, wincing as she did so.

Tanya looked at both of them while they struggled to get up, smirking at the facial reactions they were displaying as they felt the severity of her hits on their bodies. "What was that about hurting me again?" she taunted.

Aisha and Rocky glared at her as they both got into their respected fighting stances.

((((( )))))

The Green Turbo Ranger ran to where his friends once were. "Alpha! What just happened?" he yelled into his helmet.

"Not now, Adam!" Alpha replied. "We're busy here!"

He heard the sounds of shuffling and metal clinks on the other end of the transmission before it cut off. He wanted to transport into the Chamber to find out what had happened, but the battle was still underway and he just couldn't afford it. He turned his attention towards where the Blue Ranger was fighting, a little surprised at how well he was fairing. The Blue Ranger realized his stare and gestured towards the school.

"I got this covered!" he called out to him as he blocked a punch. "Go get Tanya!"

The Green Ranger nodded his head and ran towards the school entrance. Just as he reached the entrance way, a wet tongue wrapped itself around his ankle and pulled him back. He fell face first onto the ground.

"Yaw nah goang ehniwer!" Elgar yelled as he kept pulling.

The Green Ranger grunted as he hung tightly onto the door post. After a dodging a few more tackles, the Blue Ranger pulled out his Turbo Blaster and aimed. He pulled the trigger and the blue light shot onto Elgar's tongue, burning through it. Elgar pulled what remained of his tongue back into his mouth with a loud "Yaw lillel rah!" The Green Ranger kicked off what was still wrapped around his ankle, pushed himself off of the ground, and ran as fast as he could deeper into the school halls.

((((( )))))

Rocky flew into the air and landed back first into a trash can. His body folds in as his own weight pushed deep into the can. He propped his hands onto the opening of the trash can and tried to push himself out, but found that his body was too cozily fitted into the shape of the can.

"Ugh! Not cool, Tanya!" he yelled at her. "This feels like Junior High all over again."

Aisha landed a kick to her side, but was retaliated with a hit to her shoulder. A slap landed on her cheek and she wavered back as she lifted a hand to her face. Rocky stopped his fidgeting upon seeing this, letting out a low "uh-oh."

Aisha's eyebrows furrowed and she glared hard at her replacement. She charged head on with fists already at the ready. She threw punch after punch, each blocked and avoided. She threw another kick to her side, but Tanya catches it with both arms. She gripped Aisha's leg tighter and pulled, hurling her around and throwing her against another set of lockers. Aisha's body dented the lockers before she fell to the floor.

Tanya smirked as she relaxed her shoulders and looked at her with a mocking glare. "No wonder I had to come in for you," she chuckled. "You're pathetic."

"They must have scrambled your memories too," Aisha said, slowly getting up. "Because as I remember it, you were an unwanted addition."

"Keep thinking that."

They heard the sound of grunting and both turned to see Rocky finally able to at least get his knees out of the trash can. He pulled himself out and stumbled to his feet. He wiped a sweat from his brow before turning his gaze towards them, confused at why they were both staring at him.

Tanya chuckled at him, all the while glancing at Aisha, and smiled. She lifted a hand towards Rocky and stretched her fingers. A gush of wind blew from her hands and pushed Rocky hard towards the wall. He lands on the floor with a loud thud. As he tried to get up, Aisha saw very clearly the red line that trickled from his nose and onto his chin. A few droplets fell on the white floor.

Aisha's nose flared as she saw this. "That's it. First, you hurt my friends. Then, you hurt me. Now, you make my boyfriend bleed?" She took off her earrings and bracelets, and threw it to the ground. "I'm going ghetto on your ass."

Tanya giggled at this, causing Aisha's anger to reach its limit. She screamed as she ran towards Tanya. Tanya threw a punch, but Aisha avoided this, ramming her entire body against Tanya's midsection instead. She tackles her to the ground and starts to wrestle her.

When Rocky recovered, he started to push himself up and he saw this. His eyes widened at the sight. He stood still, unsure of what to do.

The Green Turbo Ranger ran towards him as he stared on. "Rocky!" he called out to him as he got nearer. "Rocky, are you alright?"

When Rocky didn't answer, his eyes followed the source of his stare. His own eyes widened when he saw a very angry Aisha sitting on top of Tanya, pulling at her hair. The Green Turbo Ranger lowered his shoulders and a green light filled his entire body. It disappeared to reveal Adam in his regular, baggy clothes with the signature green pallet.

Both Adam and Rocky just stood there for a moment, staring at the catfight that continued in front of them.

"We should do something," Adam said, not taking his eyes off of the two.

"Uh-huh," Rocky answered dreamily. After a short while, Tanya was finally able to push Aisha off of her. However, the former Ranger quickly recovered and climbed on top of her again, throwing a punch and causing Tanya's lip to pop.

Adam awoke from his trance upon seeing the blood trickle from Tanya's lip. He nudged Rocky's shoulder and gestured towards the two females. Rocky nodded and they both ran towards them.

Rocky pulled Aisha off of Tanya with both arms locked on hers while Adam pulled Tanya to her feet, both arms also locked onto hers as he held her back. When she broke free and tried to run forward to Aisha, Adam grabbed her by the elbows and spun her around. He gripped both of her arms tightly as she faced him.

"Tanya?" he asked, frowning at her. "Tanya."

She frowned back at him, confused. She recognized him. She remembered him from her dreams. Suddenly, all of the questions that she had been craving to have answered sprang in her mind. She wanted them answered, and felt that somehow, he must have the answers that she was looking for. She opened her mouth to convey these thoughts, but found her voice getting caught. Something was stopping her. Something deep inside of her was stopping her from saying anything. Her brows furrowed even more as she tried again, but still nothing came out.

"Tanya," Adam repeated. He wanted her to say something, anything, to relieve him. He believed that she knew who he was, and he was desperate for her to confirm this.

Tanya tried again, her eyes watering.

Finally, she screamed in frustration and broke free from his grip. As she threw a punch at him, both of her arms gets pulled back behind her. She felt her body lifted up when she tried to kick at him.

"Adam! In my pocket!" Aisha yelled as she tightened her grip on one arm, Rocky held onto the other.

Adam ran forward and reached into Aisha's front pants' pocket and fished out the morpher key that was handed to her not long ago. He held it up as he tried to take one arm out. Tanya kicked again and this time, her foot makes contact with Adam's shin. He stumbles back with a limp.

"Knock it off!" Aisha twisted the arm that she held on to, causing Tanya to cry out.

Aisha rearranged Tanya's arm to be in front of her. She quickly turned her wrist while making sure to maintain her grip. With a flash of yellow, Tanya's morpher appeared. Adam ran forward again and shoved the key into the morpher. But Tanya yanked her arm back before Adam could turn it.

Finally reaching the peak of her irritation, Aisha released her grip on her arm and elbowed Tanya right on her face. Tanya's head swung to the side as Aisha's elbow hits her on her cheekbone. Her head hung sluggishly when Aisha took charge of her arm again. Adam, while trying to mask his shock at his best friend's violent outburst, took Tanya's wrist in one hand and the key in the other. He took a deep breath and twisted the key.

All three had to close their eyes at the sudden surge of yellow glow that intensely flashed before them. The yellow suddenly flashed a bright white, and Aisha and Rocky had to let go to shield their eyes. Adam, however, maintained his short distance from her.

When the light subsided and Adam was able to open his eyes, he looked upon the very familiar and much missed yellow armor of the Yellow Turbo Ranger. He looked at her with wide eyes, almost unbelieving that she was in existence before him. She, in turn, was mimicking his reaction as she stared at her gloved hands, almost as if she herself was unbelieving of her own existence.

Her gaze lifts up, and her head tilts at the sight of him.

"Adam?" she whispered through her helmet. "Adam."


	12. An Unexpected Development

A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who has been keeping up with this story. And sorry about the last chapter being so short. I actually just wanted a chapter on Aisha and Tanya's catfight so I put that up. I promise that this one will be a bit longer. And for those who think I'm just dragging the story along, I promise that everything will end eventually. Actually, it's coming sooner than you think. So to make up for the two short chapters before this one, I'll make this chapter extra long! Yay! That would be appropriate anyway, since there's so much drama to cover now.

Also, I think from now on I'm going to stop working on my other story (just for the time being) and work nonstop on this one so that I can finally give it an ending. I just really want this story to be done.

And now, Enjoy!

**Truths of the Hearts**

**The Unexpected Development**

**By genielou**

Kat's Ranger suit disappeared as she appeared with a flash of pink light in the middle of the Power Chamber.

"Ai-yi-yi! What to do, what to do!"

Her gaze traveled throughout the room before her present location registered in her mind. Her eyes landed on the medical bed on the side of the room, where the short robotic help was busily tending to it.

"Zordon, is this right?" he asked, holding up a metal tool.

"Yes, Alpha," the voice boomed. "Please proceed."

She moved forward, walking towards the source of Alpha's panic. Her feet stops a few feet from him, and she stared at the still figure that lay on the bed. The red shirt that he wore served to jog her memory of what she had done.

Her eyes start to wander through the scene. She saw the dirty clothes, the muddied skin and messy hair. She saw his face; his eyes closed and his lips open as he breathed through a mask that was attached over his mouth. She saw the soft rise and fall of his chest. Upon traveling further down into his physique, only then did she see completely see it, and only then did realization finally slapped her. There, further down onto his chest, she saw Alpha's busy hands tending to the injury that she had inflicted on the man that she loved.

She quickly turned on her heels and ran out through the gigantic metal doors. Zordon saw this, but decided to let her be.

((((( )))))

"Adam," her voice cracked as she whispered his name.

He heard the recognition in her tone. Adam stepped closer to her, and lifted both hands to hold her face. His thumbs caressed the smooth texture of her helmet, the way he would have if he were touching the soft skin of her cheeks.

"Tanya," he started, his voice almost as low as her whisper. "Do you know me?"

She nodded her head vigorously before throwing her arms around his shoulders. She hugged him tightly, and he winced slightly at the strength that her Ranger form provided her.

Adam's arms instinctively wrapped around her waist. He craved to touch her without her armor so much. His head pressed against her helmet and he heard the soft sobs that came from underneath it. He tightened his hold on her.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Tanya babbled hysterically. "I saw all of it, and I really didn't mean to do it. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry- -"

"Shh, it's okay," Adam cooed, one hand going up to hold her head against his shoulder.

The former warriors walked up to them; Rocky already had a smirk on his face, and Aisha, despite her previous attack, was starting to smile too.

Rocky walked closer and placed a hand on the Yellow Ranger's shoulder. "Tanya," he said. "How are you feeling?"

The shades of her helmet casted down. "Alright, I guess," she replied with each word coming out with a sniff. "I'm not sure."

Aisha silently looked on from behind Rocky, watching them very carefully. With Rocky talking to them comfortably and the Yellow Ranger still wrapped in Adam's arms, she almost felt like a stranger in the small group.

She felt a glance go her way and snapped out of her reverie. Looking up, she saw that the Yellow Ranger's helmet was tilted towards her direction. Aisha knew that Tanya was looking for something to say to her, maybe a 'thank you' or an 'I'm sorry', and Aisha wanted to assure her that it was all in good fate. But something within Aisha maintained her stoic expression. She neither smiled nor displayed any sort of message on her face. She was just is. As to why she couldn't bring herself to say something to her, she wasn't sure. But she knew one sure thing that she felt upon seeing the enthusiasm the Tanya conveyed upon running into Adam's arms, and it was pity. Never in her life had she felt the need to have Rocky's arms locked around her body like there was no tomorrow, and she couldn't even imagine how badly things had been on Tanya for her to have that deep need.

Aisha pursed her lips unconsciously, and she knew that Tanya must have taken this the wrong way for her helmet casted down in shame. She wanted to correct her misunderstanding, but the two other men were too immersed in their planning; she didn't want to interrupt.

"We should probably get her out of here," she heard Rocky say.

Suddenly, Aisha felt her entire body stiffen. Her arms locked onto her sides and she found herself unable to move or say anything. She felt the Yellow Ranger's gaze fall upon her, and somehow knew that Tanya's own eyes were widening at the sight.

Everything from then on seemed like it had happened in slow motion for her. She saw the Yellow Ranger start to push Adam's arms away from her, with one hand reaching out to Aisha as if that simple gesture could have stopped what was about to happened. She saw her boyfriend slowly turning around with a confused look on his face. She saw Adam also turning her way with panic-stricken eyes.

"No!" Tanya screamed before Aisha's body was pulled away from them and landed far away, deeper into the school hallway. Her arms seemed to flail when she landed hard onto the ground. All three of them heard her body make a loud thud.

Before they could react, both Rocky and Adam felt their own bodies stiffen. They both yell out as their own bodies get pushed away from Tanya, with Rocky landing onto the floor and Adam slamming against the lockered walls. Rocky and Adam scramble to their feet and started running towards Tanya, but a sudden gush of wind that seemed to come from where she stood blew out from all around her, pushing at them again and causing them to land where they had landed before. As they both try to push themselves to their feet, dozens of hands and arms pushed down on their bodies.

"What's going on!" Adam yelled as he tried to wiggle his head away from the hand that held it down. Once he was able to glance up, he saw the copper armors that almost seemed to meld into each other as different legs and arms of pirhanatrons reached out to hold him down. He tried to lift an arm but felt even more hands push down on him.

Adam felt the concrete floor shake from underneath him and looked to where Tanya had been. And then he saw it; the Yellow Ranger was on her knees, with the floor cracked and chipped underneath her, as her upper body curled upwards. He heard her make unusual sounds, as if she was trying to scream but was somehow unable to. Adam's eyes travel up to see the sole source of his hatred. There, standing over her in his royalty attire, was Kristol.

"No!" he yelled out as he tried to wriggle his body. The hands and arms push down harder on him.

He saw Kristol look his way for a mere second, smirking, then returned his attention towards the Yellow Ranger. Kristol reached out and held a hand over her head. A yellow mist start to rise up into Kristol's hand.

"He's sucking her energy!" Rocky yelled out, desperation in his voice. "He's demorphing her!"

Panic takes over Adam's entire body and he tried to push himself off of the ground again. The multiple hands and arms push down harder.

"NO!" he yelled out.

The Yellow Ranger's body limps, and almost fell backwards. Kristol's arm reached around her waist and hoisted her up, with his other hand still hovering over her head. Her color started to falter into a grayish shade. The yelling continued as the yellow armor dimmed, almost revealing the soldier underneath. Adam saw the black dress appear, along with the long straight hair, and the dark skin. A few more moments and he saw that her eyes were half-closed and her mouth was open.

Kristol lifted her to her feet as the yellow suit completely disappeared, leaving a very drowsy Tanya in his arms. She stood on her own accord, but kept one arm around her to keep her from tilting.

"Are you alright, darling?" he asked her. His hand reached up to her cheek, caressing her and pushing strands of hair away from her face.

She nodded slowly. Her eyes were still glazed from the loss of energy. Despite this, her nod indicated that she was once again under the poison's control. Adam felt like crying.

"Hey, asshole!"

Adam tilted his head and was surprised to see Rocky on his knees, a progress that he himself had not been able to do. A hoard of pirhanatrons was trying to push him down but he maintained his balance.

"Let her go!" Rocky yelled as he tried to get to his feet. He failed; hands and arms pushed him down.

Kristol ignored him. His eyes travelled down Tanya's arm and onto the wrist that held her morpher. The key was still attached to it.

"Love," he said to her, planting a kiss on her temple before continuing. "Kindly take that horrid thing off, please."

She nodded again. Her movements were slow and drawl, but she was obeying him. Tanya lifted her arms and started to unfasten her morpher, then stopped when her gaze unknowingly recognized the player of her dreams again.

Her brows furrowed as she saw Adam, and her eyes examined him as they had done so many times before. She felt a slight pang in her chest as she saw him struggle against the aliens that held him down.

"Darling," she heard Kristol whisper, his mouth only inches from her ear. "Please take that off."

Kristol's command was stern, and she felt her lips purse in disapproval. She obeyed, nonetheless. She unfastened the morpher and handed it to him. Kristol held it up to his eyes.

"Useless," he declared. He tossed it to where Rocky was finally flat on the ground. "Nice try, Rangers. But it turns out that my love is stronger than your futile attempts."

He tightened his hold on Tanya and lifted a hand up into the air.

Tanya looked at Adam one last time, meeting his stare. Her gaze was unrecognizing, but… inquisitive?

Kristol snapped his fingers, and with a bright flash of light, he, along with Tanya and the pirhanatrons, disappeared.

As soon as he was able to move, Rocky ran to Aisha's side, her body still unmoving from her fall. Adam heard him call out her name as he slowly pushed himself up. His mind wandered to the expression on Tanya's face before she disappeared.

After hours had passed, the fighters settled into the Chamber, all feeling a sense of de ja vu.

"Dammit!" Adam slammed his fists down on a console.

"Adam, relax," Rocky sternly told him, taking in the tone that he had once exercised during his time as the Red Ranger. His hands maintained their pace at tending to Aisha's wounds. He removed a gauze before applying a cotton ball onto the deep gash on her forehead. "You breaking your hand won't do you, or us, any good."

Adam slammed his fists down again, making Aisha jump slightly. This scene had been playing out for too long and she was starting to get concerned. She was not used to seeing the usually-calm man burst out in anger. She saw Alpha walk over to the distressed Adam as Rocky tilted her head to the side.

"Adam, please," the robot pleaded. "You're starting to make me nervous. And when I get nervous, my circuits get all fritzy. Please take a seat and tend to your injuries."

This seemed to take Adam's temper away. He hung his head in shame before nodding. "Sorry, Alpha," he apologized. He walked to the nearest bedding and sat down, slowly setting himself to tend to the new cuts and bruises that he bore.

Alpha walked back to Tommy's bed, stopping to stand next to the young teenager who stood by with both hands fidgeting on their leader's shirt sleeve. He lifted a hand to rub on the back of his blue-flannel shirt.

He turned to him wearing the same frown that he had worn since he first set his eyes on the unconscious Tommy. "Are you sure he'll be alright, Alpha?" Justin asked him. "He doesn't look so good."

Alpha's gaze shifted toward the patient that he had been caring for. Tommy was already in bad shape before, and Katherine's actions during the battle had made things worse. His body was already at the point of breaking down, and the injury she had inflicted on him should have killed him. In fact, it almost did. Nonetheless, things were not as hopeless as it looked. Tommy survived and will completely recover. This, the robot was sure of, and the reasons behind them were what comforted Alpha, despite what had taken place only hours before. Now, if only he could convey this deeply enough to the Pink Ranger. He knew where she was hiding, probably still sobbing, but he just couldn't bring himself to approach her. He didn't believe that he was the right one to break her away from her self-pity.

An idea struck him. Leaving the Blue Turbo Ranger to sulk over the sleeping Tommy, he moved to a console far from the others' sights, specifically a console that held old data information that had been insignificant for current uses. He started pressing buttons. Then, as if on cue, he heard a ringing sound directly into the speakers of his helmet that served as his ears. He introduced himself when a female voice answered. Once recognition hit on the other end of the line, he proceeded to converse the recent events to her.

((((( )))))

Divatox paced back and forth, her cape flinging with each turn. Elgar, Rygog, and Porto remained silent as they watched her, consciously waiting for the familiar outburst.

She stopped mid-pace and turned towards them. They cringed as she took a deep breath and opened her mouth. She stayed like that for a short moment before closing her mouth and resuming her pacing again.

They jumped when the humongous door nearby suddenly clanked open. Kristol walked in with a growing frown on his face.

"Look, you little brat," Divatox started before he could say anything. "It's not my fault your girlfriend was too weak to defend herself. She brought the whole thing on to herself."

Kristol gave her a look. This was enough to momentarily silence her. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"A black hole that leads home is scheduled to appear in two days' time. I'll be leaving with her then."

"What?" she exclaimed. "I haven't used her enough yet! You promised- -"

"I promised to provide you aid with poking fun at the rest of the Power Rangers," he turned and started to walk away. "I have given you that. Now, the need for me to go home has been long overdue. I will need to prepare for my wedding soon."

The metal doors clanked open for him, and he walked through with an air of cockiness. As soon as doors closed, Divatox screamed and kicked a bucket of fish towards her audience. Elgar, Porto, and Rygog remained perfectly still, despite the dirty water and dead fishes that showered over them.

Deep into the more isolated parts of the submarine halls, where Divatox's screams could not reach, Tanya sat on her bed, staring at the round window pane in front of her. A tiny fish swam by.

Kristol had tucked her in to sleep hours ago, but she was too afraid to sleep. She knew what would happen if she did; that man would appear in her thoughts again.

It's not as if not sleeping had kept her from not thinking about him at all. In fact, since she was left to herself in the dark room, her mind had continuously wandered back to that familiar face that she neither liked nor hated. She did not like him because this was the initial attitude that she was taught to withhold against all members of the Power Rangers. But at the same time she did not hate him, for that man's presence ignited something in her that she had not been able to identify until now.

She sighed. Why was she always fussing over him? She didn't know him. She didn't want to know him. But she felt like she should know him.

Curiosity was starting to engulf her, not just because of the irritation that she felt upon her inability to pinpoint the emotion that nagged at her whenever she saw his face, but also because, in a matter of two days, she was to leave this place forever. And when that happens, she will never know why that man affected her so. When that happens, that man will forever plague her dreams.

She had to do something. And she had to do it soon.

((((( )))))

The scene rewound and played again. Adam and Rocky watched as Aisha flew into the air and out of the view. They both winced as they saw the same fate fall upon them. Adam pointed the remote towards the screen and it rewound again.

"There was no warning at all," Rocky wondered aloud.

Adam nodded in agreement, rewinding the scene again. "I keep trying to find any sign that he was coming, but I can't find any."

He set the remote down to his side and finally let the rest of the scene play. Once night had set in, Alpha expressed the need to have Tommy and Aisha tucked in, in order for them to heal faster. The lighting in the main Chamber room had been dimmed as blankets and pillows were provided for them. Alpha and Zordon had also retired themselves for the day; Alpha plugged himself against the wall, and Zordon merely disappeared from his usual position in the giant tube. Justin was also ordered to rest. He simply went home to the Little Haven's housing apartment.

Adam and Rocky, however, has yet to feel tired enough to sleep. They decided to move onto a different room to review videos of the previous battle.

Adam's attention focused as he watched the Yellow Turbo Ranger fall to her knees, the impact cracking the concrete beneath her. It was as if an invisible force had suddenly pushed her down.

"I still can't believe it," Rocky said. "We almost had her."

Adam nodded again, eyes still concentrated on the screen. He watched his best friend push a few pirhanatrons off of him. _This must have been when I was finally able to lift my head to see him_, Adam thought, very impressed and slightly surprised at Rocky's persistence during the battle.

Silence took over as they watched the Yellow Ranger's energy get drained by Kristol. They remained this way as they studied the video further.

After a moment, Adam glanced at Rocky.

"So," he started. "Aisha?"

Rocky glanced back at him for a second before turning back to watch the screen again. "It's complicated."

Adam nodded and turned his attention back to the screen. It was almost over, so he lifted the remote to replay it again. He watched intently as the entire scene restarted.

"It's an open relationship."

Adam maintained his silence.

"Did you hear me?" Rocky asked. "I said we have an _open _relationship."

"I heard you," Adam replied. "I'm just waiting for the explanation."

Rocky sighed and leaned back on his chair. "It was her idea," he said. "She said that if I were to meet someone else while she's away, she wouldn't want me to miss my chance at _falling in love_," Rocky said this with disdain. "So she insisted on having an open relationship."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Of course not!" he exclaimed. "But, if I had said no, she might have broken up with me entirely." He hung his head, defeated. "I figured this would be better than nothing."

Adam shook his head. "You're a strong man."

Aisha flew into the air and out of the screen again.

"What would you have done?" Rocky asked.

Adam thought for a moment as he watched the Yellow Ranger fall to her knees. He frowned before answering. "I wouldn't have agreed to it."

Rocky raised an eyebrow.

"Call me selfish," Adam continued. "But I want Tanya all to myself." He sighed. "I don't want to share her."

Kristol tightened his hold on Tanya and held up a hand. Adam saw very clearly how her gaze was concentrated on him before she disappeared.

((((( )))))

Tommy's eyelids fluttered open, and for a brief moment, he panicked. The brightness of the room hurt his eyes, and it kept him from completely focusing his sight. He felt some sort of mask attached to his mouth. It confused him because despite this, he was still breathing quite well. In fact, he was breathing in the freshest air that he had breathed in over a month. There was no hint of the rusty, rotten smell that he had grown accustomed to. And the air was clear, not musty. It was literally a breath of fresh air for him.

"We have fifteen orbs left. Maybe I should make more?"

He recognized the voice. It sounded young, much younger than he was used to. It must be Justin.

"Ai-yi-yi. That is the least of our concerns, Justin. I just finished translating the daily readings for the city's astronomical activities, and there is something that we might have to look into."

Tommy frowned. A headache creeped into the center of his temple as his mind automatically tried to translate what Alpha had announced. He groaned loudly as he tried to get up. He heard a scurrying of steps before a pair of hands gently pushed him back down onto his bed.

"Tommy, please stay still," he recognized the blinking of lights from Alpha's headpiece as it appeared before him. "Let me check your status first."

"I'll go get the others!" Justin said as he hurried away.

Alpha removed the breathing mask from Tommy's face. He then proceeded to sticking tiny suction pads, with wires attached to them, all over Tommy's chest. Tommy shivered at the cold plastic that the robot stuck onto his skin.

"Sorry, Tommy," Alpha apologized. "If I were capable of applying warm carbon dioxide onto them, I would have."

"It's cool, alpha," Tommy said groggily. "Where am I?"

"You're in the Power Chamber, Tommy," Alpha said over the beeping that a nearby machine was making. "Do you remember anything that happened?"

Tommy heaved a sigh as he tilted his head backwards. His headache worsened as memories of the last battle recapped in his head. The last act, which was the reason why he felt like he had been run over repeatedly by a six-wheeler, was especially fresh in his mind.

He took a deep breath before answering. "I remember everything."

Footsteps invaded the metal floors, and a group of heads popped into his vision soon after.

"Hey there, buddy," Rocky cooed slowly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You look like shit."

Tommy couldn't help but chuckle, earning a wince as his chest rose too high. Aisha noticed Justin raise both eyebrows upon the unforgiving word, and lightly punched Rocky on his side.

"How are you feeling?" Aisha asked, taking a hand.

"Pretty bad," he answered. "But still very happy to be back."

Aisha grinned as she squeezed his hand.

Tommy shifted his head towards Adam, lifting a hand to him. Adam took it with both hands.

"Tanya," he said to him, his voice still cracking from the long sleep. "She's okay, man."

"We know, Tommy," Adam told him. "We almost got her yesterday, but that guy got in the way again."

"No, no," Tommy shook his head. He started to push himself up but Alpha held a hand to his chest.

"Please, Tommy," Alpha pleaded. "You might open your wounds."

Tommy lied back down dejectedly. He took a deep breath before continuing. "That guy- - Kristol. He's having problems with her."

"Problems?"

"Yeah, the poison's not working," Tommy had to pause for a bit when his breathing became ragged. Alpha replaced his breathing mask momentarily, then removed it for him to continue. "He had to put more into her almost every day. It's not working."

"What do you mean it's not working?" Aisha asked, leaning in.

Tommy took another deep breath and continued with a frown. "It's Adam. Everytime she sees him, she gets confused. I don't know- - it's weird."

Adam's frown deepened as Justin gave a knowing smile. "I told you guys!" he exclaimed.

This earned a smile from most of his older teammates.

"This is great news!" Aisha chimed in. "This'll give us leverage for the next time that we fight her."

"Aw, honey," Rocky said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're not holding a grudge on the ass-kicking she gave you?"

Aisha gave him as knowing look. "Uh, sweetie, I was the one doing the ass kicking."

"Of course you were," Rocky said, pulling her closer to him. She playfully elbowed him on the stomach.

Tommy chuckled before turning his attention back to Adam. He seemed to be the only one who remained skeptical throughout their exchange. "Adam," he said. "You gotta trust me when I say this: I think she's going to come back to us on her own. Or, at least, she's going to come to _you_."

Adam looked at him, still frowning. "You're saying I should wait?"

Tommy nodded.

"Alpha, can you check for a fever?" Aisha asked. Alpha nodded as he obeyed and attempted to place a thermometer in Tommy's mouth. Tommy pushed it away, annoyed.

"I've heard you say crazy things before, Tommy, but this one can probably top the cake." Adam placed a hand on his shoulder. "Take it easy for now, man. I have to go check something out."

Tommy nodded helplessly as he watched Adam walk away. Rocky left Tommy's side and jogged after him.

"Yo, man," Rocky said when he caught up to him. "Where are you off to?"

Adam sighed. "I've been meaning to check something out. I'll be right back."

Rocky raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing suicidal. I promise," Adam reassured him. "I just need to go see something and, you know, check it out."

Rocky nodded as he patted a hand on Adam's shoulder. "Call if you need anything."

Adam proceeded to leave the Chamber as Rocky jogged back to his previous placement. As he got closer to Tommy, he heard the inevitable question that they were all reluctant to answer.

"Where's Kat?"

((((( )))))

The sun slowly rose higher into the sky, kindly countering the holiday's chilly temperature. The day had barely started, and at this moment, it still held its innocence over the corruption that it would soon experience once the sun starts to take its scheduled course through the clear sky. Adam straightened his jacket as he sat down on the grass. He stared out onto the lake, its calm surface reflecting the rising shine.

Adam had meant to sit on that very spot for days now, but multiple events had stopped him from doing so; events mostly concerning the very same reason why he had wanted to come to that hilltop in the first place.

A slight gush of wind blew by, reminding him of a specific part of his dream, wherein he reaches towards her to replace the strands of hair that had been blown onto her face. He frowned in frustration as the urge to see her strengthened within him.

Why did things have to be this way? Of all the ways to try to destroy the Power Rangers, why did Divatox have to permit this low of a blow? Although, from the looks of things, it admittedly seem like Divatox was not to blame at all. The man, the one that kept appearing before him, was to blame. And he had obviously set his eyes on Tanya.

There were so many questions that needed answers, and, at this moment, Tommy was more than likely to be answering them. But the need to sit there, on that very spot where Adam had been gaining his motivation from, was too much to bear. And the short calm at that moment is the perfect time for him to sit there and think.

Adam adjusted the hood of his jacket and laid himself down on the grass with his arms behind his head. He closed his eyes as the sunlight brightened with each minute that passed.

The others had thought him desperate to the point of insane when he suggested that Tanya was possibly trying to communicate with him through his dreams. And he, himself, had thought that at some point too. He had spent much time trying to figure out how to analyze himself to try to figure out if he had been right. But, after awhile, he just stopped caring. Whether or not the real Tanya was there in his dreams seemed insignificant over the mere fact that she was there. That's what had kept him going. Seeing her, even though it wasn't really her, kept him from going crazy.

A shadow fell over him, and he opened his eyes to see the source of his comfort. And then she saw her, there, sitting next to him. She was staring at him, frowning.

Adam chuckled. "I must have dozed off already," he said to himself.

He pushed himself up to get a better look at her. She was as he had seen her to be in his recent reality, with long, straight hair and wearing an attractive black mini dress. His eyes scanned her briefly and admitted to himself that she was undoubtedly attractive in her 'evil' appearance.

She maintained her frown, and he translated this to be concern.

"I'm fine," he assured her. "How about you? Are you okay?"

She remained frowning, but nodded in response.

"We're almost there, Tanya," he started, inching himself closer to her. His stare kept him too occupied from noticing her lean away. "Just hang in there. I'm going to get you back soon."

The wind blew and assaulted her hair. She closed her eyes as strands invaded her face.

Adam chuckled, admiring her expression. "Here, let me help you," he said, reaching out a hand to reenact his role on this scene. But when his hand moved to cup her face, her eyes opened wide and she growled at him with her teeth bared. She slapped his hand away and quickly stood away from him.

"How dare you touch me!"

Adam, in turn, quickly stood a distance from her with a confused look on his face.


End file.
